Some 200 people marched in Sydney April 2 under the banner “Free West Papua,” with similar rallies in Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth. The demonstrators supported the March 23 granting of temporary visas to 42 out of 43 West Papuans who landed in north Queensland in January seeking political asylum from Indonesian repression. The protesters also criticized Canberra’s complicity in Indonesia’s brutal occupation of West Papua since 1963.

The announcement of temporary asylum sparked diplomatic protests from Jakarta. Indonesia’s president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, recalled his ambassador to Australia, and queried agreements with Canberra on security and on curtailing “illegal immigration.” He declared relations with the Australian government had entered “a difficult time.” Anti-Australian protests were staged by right-wing forces in Jakarta and other Indonesian cities.

Since early April, Jakarta has placed five patrol boats off West Papua to try to intercept refugees. Australian defense minister Brendan Nelson has since discussed joint naval patrols with the Indonesian naval command.

Despite promising in 2001 greater autonomy for West Papua, the Indonesian government has 50,000 security personnel in the province of more than 2 million people, aiming to suppress deep-rooted demands for self-determination.

The Australian-British mining giant Rio Tinto has a 40 percent share in the huge Freeport open-cut gold and copper mine, which was the focus of weeks of protests in West Papua in February and March. The mine has left a massive trail of destruction, while virtually none of the billions generated in profits and taxes remains in West Papua. The northern Australian cities of Darwin and Cairns are the major service centers for the mine. The Cairns Chamber of Commerce is among those calling for Canberra to take a “hard line” against West Papuan refugees.

The March 23 granting of temporary asylum came one week after a confrontation between West Papuan protesters and Indonesian riot police at Cendrawasih University on the outskirts of the provincial capital Jayapura. Four Mobile Brigade cops and a plainclothed air force officer were killed in the clash, as well as two Papuan protesters. A Mobile Brigade unit had moved to take down barricades at the university, firing live ammunition at students, who retaliated with stones.

Dozens of Papuans were beaten and arrested as the Indonesian cops went on a rampage after the clash. Some 1,200 students in Jayapura fled into the forest after the incident, 200 of them remain in hiding.

In Jakarta, West Papuan students have continued protests over the Indonesian repression. They are reportedly planning to seek asylum at the Australian Embassy to publicize their fight for self-determination.  
 
 
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