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