Western New Guinea

The region of West New Guinea is the western half of the island of New Guinea or Papua, and has also been known as Irian Jaya or West Papua. A part of Indonesia since 1963, the region contains the provinces of West Irian Jaya and Papua, which shares its eastern border with the nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG).

History

Papuans, the native people of New Guinea are a Pacific Melanesian people, as are those of the Solomons, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. Melanesians have inhabited the Australian continental islands of Papua and the Moluccas for over 40,000 years and have developed diverse cultures and languages; there are over 300 languages and two hundred additional dialects in West New Guinea alone (See Papuan languages).

Related Topics:
Pacific - Melanesia - Solomons - Vanuatu - New Caledonia - Fiji - Australia - Continental islands - Papua - Moluccas - Papuan languages

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It is believed that the first Europeans to sight New Guinea were the Portuguese, but it was the Dutch vessel Duyfken which first recorded its travel along the southern coast of Papua in 1605. The Duyfken did not explore the coast of Papua, but sailed south into the Gulf of Carpentaria, landing in northern Australia.

Related Topics:
Duyfken - 1605 - Gulf of Carpentaria - Australia

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Dutch control

In 1828, the Dutch claimed the south coast west of the 141st meridian, and in 1848 added the north coast west of Humboldt Bay. The Netherlands established trading posts in the area after Britain and Germany recognised the Dutch claims in treaties of 1885 and 1895. At much the same time, Britain claimed south-east New Guinea later known as the Territory of Papua and Germany claimed the northeast, later known as the Territory of New Guinea.

Related Topics:
1828 - 1848 - Britain - Germany - 1885 - 1895 - New Guinea - Territory of Papua - Territory of New Guinea

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In 1923, the Nieuw Guinea Beweging (New Guinea Movement) was created in the Netherlands by ultra right-wing supporters calling for Dutchmen to create a tropical Netherlands in Papua. This prewar movement without full government support was largely unsuccessful in its drive, but did coincide with the development of a plan for Eurasian settlement of the Dutch Indies to establish Dutch farms in northern West New Guinea. This effort also failed as most returned to Java disillusioned, and by 1938 just 50 settlers remained near Hollandia and 258 in Manokwari.

Related Topics:
New Guinea Movement - 1938 - Manokwari

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In the early 1930s, the need for a national Papuan government was discussed by graduates of the Dutch Protestant Missionary Teachers College in Mei Wondama, Manokwari. These graduates continued their discussions among the wider community quickly succeeded in cultivating a desire for a national unity across the region and its three hundred languages. The College Principal Rev. Kijne also composed "Hai Tanahku Papua" ("Oh My Land Papua"), which in 1961 was adopted as the national anthem.

Related Topics:
1930 - Hai Tanahku Papua - 1961

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In 1942, the northern coast of West New Guinea and the nearby islands were occupied by the Japanese empire. Allied forces expelled the Japanese in 1944, and with Papuan approval, the United States constructed a headquarters for Gen. Douglas MacArthur at Hollandia (now Jayapura) and over twenty US bases and hospitals intended as a staging point for operations taking of the Philippines.

Related Topics:
1942 - Japan - Allied - 1944 - United States - Douglas MacArthur - Hollandia - Jayapura - Staging point

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West New Guinean farms supplied food for the half million US troops. Papuan men went into battle to carry the wounded, acted as guides and translators, and provided a range of services, from construction work and carpentry to serving as machine shop workers and mechanics.

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The Dutch retained possession of West New Guinea from 1945, but upon reaching Java 4,000 km west they did not find similar levels of support from the population of Java. Indonesian leaders Mohammad Hatta and Sukarno had weeks before declared independence and claimed all Dutch possessions should become part of the United States of Indonesia. The dispute continued until the Round Table Conference, which was held from August to October 1949 at the Hague. Unable to reach a compromise on the matter of West New Guinea, the conference closed with the parties agreeing to discuss the West New Guinea issue within one year.

Related Topics:
Java - Indonesia - Mohammad Hatta - Sukarno - Independence - United States of Indonesia - Round Table Conference - 1949 - Hague

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In 1952, the Netherlands recognised Papuan self-determination as a right in accordance with Article 73 of the Charter of the United Nations and began preparing the nation for independence. After repeated Indonesian claims to rightful possession of Dutch New Guinea, Holland invited Indonesia to present its claim before an International Court of Law. Indonesia declined the offer. Concerned that invasion might be a possibility, Holland accelerated its education and technical programs in preparation for independence. A naval academy was opened in 1956, and Papuan troops and naval cadets began service by 1957.

Related Topics:
1952 - Self-determination - Right - Article 73 of the Charter - United Nations - Independence - Indonesia - Dutch New Guinea - International Court - Naval academy - 1956 - 1957

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By 1959, Papuans were nurses, dental surgeons, draftsmen, architects, telephone repairmen, and radio and power technicians, cultivating a range of experimental commercial crops and serving as police, forestry and metrological staff. This progress towards self-governance was documented in reports prepared for the United Nations from 1950 to 1961.

Related Topics:
Nurse - Dental surgeon - Draftsmen - Architect - Police - Forestry - Metrological staff

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:see Report to UN for 1959,appendix, Photo appendix

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:see Report to UN for 1960,appendix, Photo appendix

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:see Report to UN for 1961,appendix, Photo appendix

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Elections were held and Papuan representatives elected during 1959.

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In May 1961, an elected Nieuw Guinea Raad (New Guinea Council) became the first Papuan parliament and was responsible for designing and implementing full independence by 1971. The Council decided upon new symbols, the national anthem of "Hai Tanahku Papua" ("Oh My Land Papua") a national flag (the Morning Star), and decided the country's official name would become "West Papua". The Dutch recognized the flag and anthem on November 18, 1961 (Government Gazettes of Dutch New Guinea Nos. 68 and 69), and these ordinances came into effect on December 1, 1961.

Related Topics:
1961 - New Guinea Council - The Morning Star - November 18 - December 1

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Indonesian control

The Morning Star flag was raised on December 1, 1961, an act which Papuan independence supporters celebrate each year at flag raising ceremonies as indicative of their national unity and commitment to independence. The date for independence of Netherlands New Guinea was set for 1970.

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Indonesia paratroopers mounted an invasion December 18, 1961, though these troops were quickly arrested by the Papuan people. Indonesian efforts continued, including a minor naval battle on January 19, 1962. Behind the scenes, the United States forced the Netherlands to surrender West New Guinea to Indonesia in August under terms negoiated in New York and specified in a document known as the "New York Agreement". The Australian government, which previously had been a firm supporter of the Papuan independence, also reversed its policy. (See US Foreign Relations, 1961-63, Vol XXIII, Southeast Asia and US President letter)

Related Topics:
December 18 - January 19 - 1962 - New York - New York Agreement - Australia

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The agreement, ratified in the UN on September 21 1962, stipulated that authority would transfer to a United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on October 1, and that UNTEA would hand the territory to Indonesia on May 1, 1963, until such time as a UN-conducted "Act of Free Choice" could determine the will of the people.

Related Topics:
May 1 - 1963

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Since 1962, consistent reports have surfaced of programs of government suppression and terrorism, including murder, political assassination, imprisonment, torture, and aerial bombardments. The Indonesian government disbanded the New Guinea Council and forbade the use of the new flag or the singing of the national anthem. There has been considerable resistance to Indonesian integration and occupation, both through civil disobedience (such as Morning Star flag raising ceremonies) and via the formation of the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM, or Free Papua Movement) in 1964. The movement's military arm is the TPN, or Libration Army of Free Papua. Amnesty International has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against West Papuans, while others have set the number at more than 200,000.

Related Topics:
Suppression - Terrorism - Murder - Assassination - Imprisonment - Torture - Organisasi Papua Merdeka - 1964 - Libration Army of Free Papua - Amnesty International

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In 1969, Indonesia conducted the widely criticized "Act of Free Choice". Prior to the vote, the Indonesian military rounded up and detained for one month a large group of Papuan tribal leaders. The Papuans were daily threatened with death at gunpoint if the entire group did not vote to continue Indonesian rule. Assembled troops and two Western observers acted as witnesses to the public vote; however, the Western observers left after witnessing the first two hundred (of 1,054) votes for integration. With the U.S. embroiled in the Viet Nam War and concerns about the potential rise of Communism in Southeast Asia, the U.S. and other Western powers turned a deaf ear to protests over the circumstances surrounding the vote. The process was deemed to have been an "Act of Free Choice" in accordance with the United Nations requirements, and Indonesia formally annexed the territory in August. Desenters mockingly called it the "Act of No Choice".

Related Topics:
1969 - Act of Free Choice - Viet Nam War - Communism - Southeast Asia

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In 1977, construction of the world's largest copper and gold mine (also the world's largest open cut mine) began. Under an Indonesian agreement signed in 1967 (two years before the "Act of Free Choice"), the US company Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. holds a 30-year exclusive mining license for the region from the official opening of the mine in (1981). Locals made several violent attempts to dissuade the mine owners, including blowing up a pipeline that July, but order was quickly restored.

Related Topics:
1977 - Gold mine - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc.

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The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its transmigration program, under which 1.2 million Javanese and Sumatran persons streamed into Papua over a ten-year period. Nearly all of these migrants were Muslims, coming into an area that, prior to Indonesian rule, had been almost entirely populated by Roman Catholics, Protestants and people following tribal religions. The transmigration's purpose is to tip the West Papuan population from the heavily Melanesian Papuans toward a more Asian "balance," thus further consolidating Indonesian control.

Related Topics:
1990s - Transmigration program - Javanese - Sumatra - Muslim - Roman Catholics - Protestants

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A separatist congress in 2000 again calling for independence resulted in a military crackdown on independence supporters. In 2001, a now-majority Islamic population was given limited autonomy. An August 2001, US State Department travel warning advised "all travel by U.S. and other foreign government officials to Aceh, Papua and the Moluccas (provinces of North Maluku and Maluku) has been restricted by the Indonesian government".

Related Topics:
2000 - 2001 - State Department - Aceh - Moluccas - North Maluku - Maluku

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During the Abdurrahman Wahid administration in 2000, Papua gained a "Special Autonomy" status, an attempted political compromise between separatists and the central government that has weak support within the Jakarta government. Despite lack of political will of politicians in Jakarta to proceed with real implementation of the Special Autonomy, which is stipulated by law, the region was divided into two provinces: the province of Papua and the province of Irian Jaya Barat, based on a Presidential Instruction in January 2001, soon after President Wahid was impeached by the Parliament and replaced by Vice President Megawati Sukarnoputri. The division of the province has neither directly cancelled the Law of Special Autonomy of Papua nor engaged ongoing protest in the region. There was brief consideration of dividing the territory into thirds, but the plan was quickly abandoned (see gerrymandering).

Related Topics:
Abdurrahman Wahid - Jakarta - Papua - Irian Jaya Barat - Megawati Sukarnoputri - Gerrymandering

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External links

• Online documentaries on the West Papuan struggle for independence, sponsored by West German-based Friends of Peoples Close to Nature