Papuan people are proud to be an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia

Papua is an integral part of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI) and cannot be separated for any reason. The Papuan people also have high nationalism and do not want to be invited to become independent. So that Papua’s status as a province in Indonesia is legal and cannot be questioned by unscrupulous individuals. Apart from that, the Papuan people are very proud to be part of Indonesia because they feel that Papua is an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia, forever. Even though Papua only became part of Indonesia in 1963, its people are very pro-Indonesian. They are not willing to be invited to defect by the Papuan Separatist and Terrorist Group (KST).

The government also emphasized that it would never hold negotiations with KST Papua regarding the group’s request to liberate Bumi Cenderawasih from the Republic of Indonesia. In fact, not only does it continue to defend the territory in the Land of Papua, but the government is also fully committed to being able to eradicate any party that wants to take even a small part of this nation.

Vice President of the Republic of Indonesia (Wapres RI), KH. Ma’ruf Amin emphasized that the demands put forward by KST Papua were completely irrelevant. He also said that the actions carried out by the terrorist separatist group could not represent the problems on Earth of Cenderawasih at all, but only a handful of certain groups.

The government is currently working hard to resolve existing problems, even taking firm action against suspects of hate speech against Papua. Although it cannot be denied that there are still obstacles, Papua’s conditions continue to get better. As for separatist groups, they do not contribute, and only divide and cause unrest in society.

Then almost 99.5 governments in the world recognized and respected the integrity of Indonesia, and emphasized that Papua was part of the Republic of Indonesia. And Papua is now politically free, and regional and presidential elections have been held there, special autonomy rights have been granted, and the government continues to implement affirmative action policies by making every effort to fulfill basic rights, including human rights.

Various accesses are also fully provided, such as providing fuel at the same price as in other regions in Indonesia, transportation and infrastructure access continues to be built, and health services are implemented. Meanwhile, Benny Wenda, who continues to campaign for Papuan independence, has never actually contributed to Papua, instead asking for donations to fly all over the world, even giving instructions to kill infrastructure development workers in Papua. This group’s actions also amount to insulting the democratic process that has been carried out by the Papuan people.

Apart from that, the Papuan people are expected not to be too carried away by old issues created for the benefit of small groups, but to focus more on the future, because old issues are often not based on facts. Then currently progress in Papua has been extraordinary, especially in the era of the Jokowi government which is focused on improving the quality of human resources and access to transportation and infrastructure. So that Papua becomes a region that has great potential for progress in all fields. Therefore, the Papuan people must continue to support all efforts made by the government to advance and achieve equitable development in the Papua region.

Commander of Kodam (Pangdam) XVII/Cenderawasih, Major General TNI Izak Pangemanan also emphasized that the Land of Papua is an inseparable part of the Republic of Indonesia. The United Nations (UN) closed the decolonization of Papua on May 1 1963. In this way, the easternmost region of Indonesia is an inseparable part of the Republic of Indonesia. Therefore, he invites us to work together to maintain conduciveness and security in the Land of Papua so that development can be implemented and felt by the entire community.

It is hoped that the public will no longer trust certain groups that are still trying to separate Papua from the Republic of Indonesia. Because activities involving the issue of ‘Free Papua’ carried out by a certain group of individuals are only for their personal and group interests, and are far from the interests of society at large.

A Papuan youth figure who is also the Chair of the Mandala Trikora Youth, Ali Kabiay, said that the integration of Papua into the Republic of Indonesia is a way and a gift from God, so it is appropriate for all parties to protect it as well as possible. So far, Ali views the high intensity of President Jokowi’s visit to Papua as showing the government’s love for the land of Papua. This love, he continued, is shown by the government’s focus on development in eastern Indonesia, such as the capital city of the archipelago, Sulawesi, Maluku and Papua.

According to Ali, KST’s anarchic actions, such as burning down hospitals and markets, actually hampered development in Papua, both economically and human resource (HR) development. Ali also believes that the KST action not only hampers development in Papua, but also destroys the development that has been carried out so far by the government.