Melanesian Countries To Review Indonesia’s Status At MSG If No Action On West Papua Visit

Johnny
Blades RNZ Pacific senior journalist

Melanesian
countries are pushing Indonesia to facilitate a
long-requested visit to West Papua by the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights or have its membership in
their regional bloc reviewed.

A request for the visit
was made by Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) countries back in
2019, but it has still not gone ahead, despite ongoing human
rights violations in Indonesian-ruled Papua region, known
internationally as West Papua.

Frustration has built
up among the Melanesian countries in the intervening years
that Jakarta has not yet allowed the visit to take
place.

Now the members of the Melanesian Spearhead
Group (MSG) say that if a visit by the Commissioner’s office
is not facilitated by Indonesia in order for a report on
human rights issues in West Papua to be produced by their
next summit in 2027, then Indonesia’s associate member
status in the MSG will be reviewed.

The full members
of the MSG are: Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands,
Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS Kanak Movement. The United
Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) has observer
status at the MSG, and Indonesia has associate member
status.

The MSG has issued a statement from the
current PIF leaders summit in Palau, saying Melanesian
leaders “urged continued engagement with Indonesia to
facilitate access by the end of Indonesia’s term as
President of the Human Rights Council on 31 December
2026”.

MSG members requested the bloc’s current chair,
Fiji, to write to Indonesia to allow the visit of the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua to produce
a report on human rights issues in Papua, and to have the
report delivered for consideration at the next MSG summit in
2027.

Leaders “affirmed that if these actions are not
undertaken the Associate Member status shall be reviewed
accordingly at the next MSG Summit in 2027”.

They also
requested MSG member country embassies in Jakarta to
“support appropriate follow-up and engagement on this
matter”.

Furthermore, the members are considering a
proposal for MSG leaders to meet Indonesia’s president
Prabowo Subianto on the margins of the UN General Assembly
in New York last this month.

Since taking office last
year, Prabowo has overseen an increase in Indonesian
military deployments to West Papua where a long-running
conflict with the West Papua Liberation Army has escalated
in recent months, causing mass displacement of some Papua
village communities in the regtion around Highland Papua
province.

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