From
Palestine to Standing Rock, there has been no shortage of international news on
indigenous peoples’ struggles. However, there is one happening only a stone’s
throw away from us in the South Pacific.
West Papua, which borders Papua New Guinea, has been occupied by Indonesia since 1969 and is an area where
journalists are banned and human rights groups are strictly limited. As a
result, the ongoing genocide is rarely heard about.
Due
to the island’s natural resources, the government of Indonesia has been brutal
in its oppression of the West Papuan people and repressed their calls for
self-determination. A sham election was held in 1969 in which a thousand hand
picked electors were coerced into voting to remain part of Indonesia. Since
then, merely raising the Morning Star - a flag symbolic of the West Papuan
campaign - can result in imprisonment or death.
Hundreds
of thousands of Papuans have been murdered, raped or tortured with impunity by
the Indonesian military as ancestral Papuan lands are pillaged for their
copper, gold, and other natural reserves. While ostensibly searching out
insurgents, the Indonesian military has wiped out entire villages, burning
crops and houses, slaughtering livestock, and driving survivors into the rainforest
where they are vulnerable to die of starvation or disease.
The
world’s largest gold mine is a crater where a mountain sacred to the Papuan
One
of the survivors of this genocide, Benny Wenda, escaped and was granted
political asylum in the UK. He has since been an active campaigner on behalf of
the West Papuan people.
You
are invited to attend one of his presentations while here in Ōtautahi. The first is on campus at 12.30pm Friday May 12th, the second on Saturday May 13th.
Further events are planned so we'll update the webpage and facebook as they are confirmed.
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| 12.30 pm Friday May 12 ~ Canterbury University ~ Undercroft 101 , facebook event page |
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| 10.00 am Saturday May 13 ~ WEA Hall Gloucester St
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facebook event page |