Two sides to a story

Dear Editor,

Re: West Papua protest 

I have nothing against the protests. I thought it was a good demonstration of people in Samoa taking an interest in pacific affairs. 

However, I must say that the internet is completely one-sided when it comes to the West Papua issue. 

There are plenty of Papuans who actually want to be a part of Indonesia (similar to how Tutuila and Manu’a want to be a part of America or remain an American territory). They get jobs and scholarships and a Papuan even won Indonesian idol the other year. There are two sides to the story. West Papua might have a big independence movement but Papua (the territory to the east of it) is predominantly pro-indonesian and there are also pro-indonesians within West Papua itself.

The UN maintains that West Papua is a part of Indonesia. Fiji, PNG, Australia and NZ agree, and for the most part so do the pacific forum. Only Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are outspoken proponents of West Papuan independence.

 

P.S Jeffrey 

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