Papua's integration into RI final: Dutch lawmaker

Papua's integration into RI final: Dutch lawmaker

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A Dutch parliamentarian called on the international community to
stop questioning the status of Papua as the territory's
incorporation into Indonesia under the United Nations-sanctioned
1969 Act of Free Choice was final.

"Like Maluku, Aceh and other territories of the Indonesian
archipelago, Irian Jaya (Papua) is an integral part of Indonesia.
The Netherlands therefore will not support any separatist
movements," Hans van Baalen said in a seminar held to observe the
77th anniversary of the Indonesian Youth Pledge here on Thursday.

Van Baalen, a legislator from the Netherlands Party for
Freedom and Democracy, was responding to the findings of the
Drooglever study on Papua in the Netherlands and U.S. House of
Representatives Resolution No. 2601, both of which questioned the
validity of Papua's integration into Indonesia.

The study by Prof. Drooglever was commissioned by the Dutch
government at the request of the Dutch parliament to establish
the historical facts of what happened in Papua, and has inspired
several non-governmental organizations to question the formal
transfer of what was then Dutch New Guinea through the United
Nations to Indonesia in 1969.

Meanwhile, Resolution 2601, which was endorsed by the U.S.
House of Representatives in July, and is still awaiting approval
from the U.S. Senate, would, if passed, require the U.S.
government to seek clarification on a wide range of foreign
affairs issues, including the Papua question.

Hundreds of Papuan people staged a demonstration on Thursday in
Jayapura, the capital of Papua, to protest UN's decision to give
Indonesia control of the province in 1963, and approve the result
of the 1969 Act of Free Choice, which they said was undemocratic.

Van Baalen said the Drooglever study should not affect the
good bilateral relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands.
Instead, the two countries should enhance their ties for mutual
benefit.

"The Netherlands as a founding member of the EU can be a
gateway for Indonesian products to Europe and can lobby for the
abolishing of EU import duties and quotas for Indonesian
products. Indonesia as a co-founder of ASEAN can do the same for
the Hague's interests in the region," he said.

Theo L. Sambuaga, an Indonesian legislator from the Golkar
Party, said the government should work hard to improve the
welfare of the Papuan people to help eliminate secessionist
sentiment in the resource-rich province.

"The Papua issue will continually emerge as long as the
government does not fulfill its obligation to ensure development,
empower the people and uphold the rule of law in the country's
easternmost province," he said.

According to Theo, the government should speed up development
programs to allow the province under its special autonomy status
to catch up with the more developed provinces.

Jimmy Demianus Ijie, speaker of the West Irian Jaya provincial
legislature, blamed Jakarta's confusing policy for the increasing
demands for Papua's secession from Indonesia.

"The differing powers in Jakarta should sit at a roundtable
with all Papuan figures to seek a comprehensive solution to the
Papuan issue, and consistently implement it," he said.

He was of also of the opinion that Papua's integration into
Indonesia was final "but the remaining problem is that most
Papuans have been treated as second-class citizens in their own
homeland."