Advocacy group condemns failure to address West Papua at Pacific Forum

Asia Pacific Report ¹ newsdesk

The Australia West Papua Association (AWPA) has condemned the absence of West Papua in last week’s Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) official communique, saying it was “greatly disappointed” that the human rights situation in the Indonesian-ruled Melanesian region had not been mentioned.

“it is understandable that the PIF has huge challenges in the region and in particular climate change. But for all the talk about inclusiveness it would appear West Papua is not a major concern for the Forum,” spokesperson Joe Collins said in a statement.

“The PIF could have shown solidarity with the Papuan people by a simple statement of concern about the human rights situation in West Papua (particularly as the situation continues to deteriorate).”

• READ MORE: The Pacific Islands Forum communique 2022 ²
• The West Papua independence movement — a history ³

Collins called on the forum to continue to urge Jakarta to allow a fact-finding mission to the region.

“The leaders would have had the support of the people of the Pacific region in doing so,” he added.

It’s a wrap- From the Suva Agreement to the 2050 Strategy, get the last word on what’s next for regionalism in the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Communique 2022 at https://t.co/VwQslLSmXk ⁴ pic.twitter.com/MHTNd6rh9O ⁵

— Pacific Islands Forum (@ForumSEC) July 17, 2022 ⁶

This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report ⁷ and was authored by APR editor.