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Poverty In New Guinea And The Fight Against It

Poverty in New GuineaThe island of New Guinea is immense, being the world’s second-largest island over 300,000 square miles in size. Additionally, it has nearly 15 million people divided between the independent country of Papua New Guinea and the two Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. Poverty in New Guinea is a pressing issue in all three of these political regions of the island.

History of Indonesian New Guinea

The provinces of West Papua and Papua joined Indonesia following a vote in which elders voted in front of occupying Indonesian troops in 1969. The western half of the island became one province. In 2003 it became split into West Papua and Papua.

Poverty Rates

This lack of local control is an essential component of poverty in New Guinea as the populace of the western half of the island lacks political control of their vast natural resources. Papua and West Papua are the poorest regions of Indonesia. These two provinces are incredibly rich in mineral and timber resources. Despite billions of dollars of resource extraction a year, these resources have not helped the local populace as more than a quarter of the population is in poverty.

Much like Indonesian New Guinea, Papua New Guinea has a wealth of natural resources. Despite these resources 37% of the population lives in poverty. This has occurred as unfortunately, the country’s immense natural resources have not been used to substantially improve the standard of living in the country.

Child Poverty in New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea, illiteracy remains prevalent and rural areas have less access to schools as less than 50% of rural children attend school. Child hunger is another component of poverty in the country. Evidence shows that many children in Papua New Guinea are malnourished, and 43% suffer a delay in growth due to insufficient food.

Poverty in New Guinea also heavily impacts children in Indonesian New Guinea. Child hunger rates are very high in Papua, as about 40% of children have stunted growth due to malnutrition. The province has made improvements in terms of schooling, but nearly 40% of children do not attend school.

In West Papua, about 45% of children have stunted growth due to malnutrition. However, the overwhelming majority of children do attend school, with only 12% not attending. This is the highest rate of school participation on the island between the three political areas.

Healthcare in New Guinea

In the Indonesian Papua, healthcare is far from ideal. There are very few medical personnel in Papua to serve the population as “some Papuan districts have less than one doctor and five nurses per 10,000 people.” Additionally, health clinics are typically under supported in the province. Healthcare access became further complicated because much of the population live in remote regions that are difficult to access.

The impact of healthcare on poverty in New Guinea is felt in neighboring Papua New Guinea. There is a very similar level shortage of medical personnel in Papua New Guinea as in Indonesian Papua. There are “0.5 physicians per 10,000 population and 5.3 nurses per 10,000 population.” The lack of medical personnel in Papua New Guinea became further complicated by “low wages and poor physical infrastructure.”

Poverty in New Guinea is an important issue that faces the entire island despite being separated into different political regions. Poverty rates remain high across the island despite the natural resource wealth of the island. Child malnutrition, lack of school attendance and healthcare access impact Papua, West Papua and Papua New Guinea.

– Coulter Layden
Photo: Wikimedia

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Human Rights Abuses in West Papua

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The region of West Papua does not make the news often; in fact, it rarely merits a news blurb in most Western headlines. However, West Papua is arguably one of the most under-reported cases of exploitation an indigenous groups in the 21st century.

Since 1969, the people of West Papua have been in conflict with the government of Indonesia in one way or another. The University of Sydney’s Center for Peace and Conflict Studies put out a report stating that for the better part of 40 years, the people of West Papua have been under the boot heel of the Indonesian Security forces.

The report goes on to state that due to wide scale incursions by Indonesia’s armed forces, West Papua has seen over 100,000 of its citizens die and much of its national resources depleted.

A report by The Guardian also notes the devastating effect that Indonesian resource extraction is having on the people of West Papua. It notes the case of the Mooi people, who are one of the 250 indigenous tribes that are having their way of life destroyed due to the deforestation of their lands by timber and palm oil companies.

The oceans off the coasts of West Papua are also being devastated due to nickel mining in the area, which is flooding the bountiful coral reefs with polluted sediment.

It is not only the eco-system of West Papua that is being destroyed. Even though it has been close to 45 years, the Indonesian military is still cracking down severely on people who are part of the Free Western Papua Movement.

Last year, the Free Western Papua Movement’s Facebook published the photo of a dead Papuan named Edward Apaseray, who was reportedly tortured and killed by the Indonesian Special Police Forces for being a “separatist.” The Diplomat, a current affairs magazine for the Asian-Pacific region, published a report in which a recent study noted that in West Papua, an incident of torture occurred every six weeks for the past half-century.

The human rights organization Tapol that monitors human rights abuses in West Papua published the story of Yawan Wayeni. He was a tribal leader and formal political prisoner who was tortured and killed by Indonesian security forces in brutal fashion.

The media have long overlooked the plight of the people of West Papua. It has only recently begun to receive real traction in Western media. The International Parliamentarians for West Papua (IPWP) is a group of politicians around the world who support the right self-determination for the people of West Papua.

One of its members, Benny Wenda, an exile from West Papua, recently had an article published in which he decried the recent statement of Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot, who stated that things in West Papua are “better and not worse.”

West Papua is one of the forgotten atrocities of the 21st century; the responsibility making sure that it does not continue to be rests with us and our elected officials. The Arab Spring occurred with the help of Facebook and a determined populace. The plight of West Papua needs the same type of support from those who have the ability to stand up to the Indonesian government.

– Arthur Fuller

Sources: Amnesty International, The Guardian, Tapol,  The Diplomat, The University Of Sydney, Tapol,  CNN, The Guardian, Tempo, Australia News Network
Photo: London Mining Network

West Papua: A Conflict Falling on Deaf Ears

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In 1962, the United Nations granted control of West Papua to the Indonesian government. Since then, more than 100,000 West Papuans have been killed or abducted by Indonesian forces with many others having been raped and tortured. The Indonesian military has also been responsible for destroying entire villages and village gardens. Though such atrocities have continued for more than 50 years, the United Nations has yet to intervene on behalf of the West Papuans.

On August 17, a group of activists, politicians and refugees set sail from Australia on what is being called the “West Papua Freedom Flotilla.” Speaking about the purpose of their voyage, activist Izzy Brown said, “West Papuans live in fear every day, in fear of the Indonesian military.” According to Brown, the participants’ aim is to raise awareness “about an issue that has for too long been ignored in the Australian and international media.”

After the fall of General Suharto in 1998, many democratic reforms were passed in Indonesia. But this did nothing to alleviate the brutal oppression of the people of West Papua. Murder and assassinations of political leaders have continued under the regime of current president, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. A government ban on journalists and human rights organizations make it difficult for the international community to monitor the situation in West Papua.

Under Indonesian rule, many West Papuans have been jailed or murdered for resisting the government, displaying separatist flags or speaking out in support of a free West Papua. For example, activist Philip Karma was arrested in 2004 while participating in a peaceful protest of the Indonesian government and raising a Morning Star Flag, which is a Papuan symbol. For his actions, Mr. Karma is currently serving a 15-year prison sentence.

At the end of this month, the Freedom Flotilla will land in Papua New Guinea and attempt to enter West Papua. The Indonesian government has said that it intends to intercept the flotilla and turn away the participants. Hopefully, this event will help bring awareness to a conflict that has not received much media attention in the West. But if the past is any indication, even the Freedom Flotilla may escape the attention of the international media.

In 1994, Bishop Desmond Tutu issued a statement calling on the United Nations to intervene on behalf of the West Papuans. In that statement, he said, “The people of West Papua have been denied their basic human rights, including their right to self-determination. Their cry for justice and freedom has fallen largely on deaf ears.” Almost ten years later, there are still too few listening to the cries of the West Papuans.

– Daniel Bonasso

Sources: Democracy Now!, The Guardian
Photo: West Papua Media