Irian Jaya should be closed

Irian Jaya should be closed

The success of the Indonesian Armed Forces Special Forces in
releasing the hostages captured by the Irian Jaya insurgents led
by Kelly Kwalik has won the praise of many people at home and
abroad. No less a person than UN Secretary-General Boutros
Boutros Ghali expressed his congratulations. The governments of
Britain and the Netherlands also expressed their appreciation.

In the meantime the hostage drama should be a lesson for us to
be more careful in the future in allowing expeditions of any kind
into the Irian Jaya hinterland. Of course, the virgin forests of
Irian Jaya contain a thousand-and-one mysteries that appeal
strongly to scientists. However, as long as the insurgents have
not been purged we are afraid that a recurrence of similar
hostage dramas will be difficult to prevent.

For this reason it would probably be advisable to close areas
in the Irian Jaya hinterland where the security situation is
uncertain. If nevertheless research must be done, it is suggested
that the individuals or parties concerned consult the authorities
who are responsible for their security. We are afraid that if
this kind of hostage drama should recur in the future, the
problem will be much more difficult to overcome because the
insurgents too will have learned from this failed attempt.

-- Suara Karya, Jakarta