Irian Jaya kidnapping

Irian Jaya kidnapping

Last week's kidnapping of 24 people, including seven westerners, by the OPM rebels in Irian Jaya has focused international attention on this group as their previous abduction of two high school students could never hope to do.

Who are the OPM and what is their cause?

In the early 1960s, a small band of indigenous Irianese who, for various reasons, opposed Irian Jaya's integration into Indonesia, founded the Free Papua Movement (OPM). This group has been fighting for independence ever since. In the past they resorted to low-level guerrilla activities, including small raids on villages or military posts. Their existence was assisted by the rugged terrain and the mountainous forests which enabled them to escape following every raid.

In general their existence and cause went unnoticed, but once and a while they do make headlines. For example, in 1984 when, following a failure to start a "revolution" and "to take over Jayapura", more than a hundred OPM activists fled to Papua New Guinea (PNG) forcing thousands of villagers to flee with them. The incident soured diplomatic relations between Indonesia and PNG to the extent that it took several years before ties returned to normal.

Anyone with a sensible mind might say that the OPM is fighting a lost cause because any idea of establishing a separate nation in Irian Jaya would be certainly rejected by almost all Indonesians, including the Irianese themselves. But the very fact that this group has managed to exist for decades, small as it is, and that it is able to attract new recruits, should come under closer scrutiny. Without trying to understand their cause and motives, one will not be able to satisfactorily settle this problem.

In this context, the recent statement by the Communication Forum of the Irian Jaya Younger Generation is interesting. Last week this group said the abduction of the 24 people in Irian Jaya should be seen as an expression of "accumulated disappointment" toward the current development in their region on the part of the people of Irian Jaya, particularly those who live in the central highland.

The forum said the kidnapping should not be classified as a separatist action, nor as an effort to undermine the sovereignty of Indonesia, because it was carried out by a small group of people who don't understand the concept of having one nation and one people. The forum also called on ABRI to take a socio- cultural approach in its effort to release the hostages to avoid casualties on the part of the indigenous Irianese.

After reading that statement one could wonder: Is the situation in the region bad enough to push a group of people to stage a publicity stunt, such as last week's kidnapping, in order to draw world media attention? But, on the other hand, one cannot help but to condemn the action for putting the lives of so many people in danger, while putting our reputation as a nation in the balance.

With regard to the situation in Irian Jaya, for years we have heard grumbles and complaints from many Irianese on a wide range of subjects, from transmigration -- which some have called "Javanization"-- to the "exploitation" of Irian Jaya, including the allegation that the traditional laws and customs are ignored by settlers and investors.

But, could this justify the kidnapping? We don't think so.

Yet, in fairness, we believe that these complaints should be closely examined, and if mistakes have really occurred, it is not too late to amend the nation's policy on Irian Jaya.

With regard to the kidnapping, we believe that the Indonesian Armed Forces will do its best to avoid bloodshed in freeing the hostages. The safety of the hostages should be the main concern. The Armed Forces' offer of safe passage to the kidnappers if they would agree to free the hostages, followed by the military's compliance to the kidnappers' prompt request that they wanted four clergymen sent to talk to them, are good examples of this policy.

Hopefully, in a peaceful manner, we will be able to examine the roots of this problem thoroughly once the crisis is over. Obviously we don't want repetition of such incidents, for we don't want to put our reputation as a nation in the hands of a group of desperate people ever again.

Yet, if we fail to deal with the "accumulated disappointment", presuming that it is a reality, we are afraid that we may have to face more headaches in the future.