Controversy over the opening of Papua separatist bureau in the Netherlands

Bendera West Papua Bintang Kejora. Foto: Ist

After Oxford, the OPM opens a bureau in the Netherlands. A former Dutch colony, the western half of the island of Papua has pitted Jakarta against separatists for decades, partly because of its mineral resources.

The Free Papua Movement (OPM), which advocates independence from Indonesia for the western part of the island of Papua, opened a second foreign bureau in the Netherlands last Thursday, two days before Indonesia celebrated the 68^th anniversary of its independence on 17 August, a move that will certainly prove controversial in the country's relations with a Western government.

In May, the OPM opened its first overseas bureau in Oxford, provoking outrage among Indonesian nationalist leaders and activists, baffled by British support for both Indonesia and the aims of Papuan separatists. The opening of an office in the Netherlands is likely to have the same effect on diplomatic relations.

Wim Rocky Wedlama, a spokesman for the West Papua National Committee's (KNKB) whose goal is a peaceful referendum on independence, said that the date to open a second OPM bureau was made by Dutch sympathisers. Still, he noted that the move was another "blow" to Indonesian authorities, following the opening of a bureau in Oxford, England, last April.

Although the Netherlands recognises the western part of the island as Indonesian territory, the province of Papua has been on several occasions at the centre of a dispute between Indonesia and Western governments, including the Dutch government.

The province of Papua is the western half of the island with the same name and has been under Indonesian rule since 1969, after a violent military campaign ordered by Sukarno led to its annexation to Indonesia.

Between the late 1960s and the late 1990s, the Suharto regime ruled it with an iron fist, opening up the province to the invasion of foreign companies to develop its vast mineral resources. This, in turn, has prodded the pro-independence OPM into action.
Source: asianews.it

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