The anti-racist protests in the United States have helped inspire movements against oppression and discrimination in many parts of the world. One striking example comes from West Papua, which has been ruled as a province of Indonesia since the 1960s, with Jakarta’s security forces clamping down hard on agitation for independence or autonomy. The slogan “Papuan Lives Matter,” modelled directly on the African-American struggle, has become a rallying cry for Papuan activists.

A recent wave of unrest began in August 2019 after nationalist vigilantes attacked Papuan students in Indonesia’s second-largest city, Surabaya, and called them “monkeys.” They accused the students of insulting Indonesia’s national flag, which they categorically denied. The police then rounded up the students, firing teargas into their dormitory.

The scenes in Surabaya angered West Papuans who saw clips of the violence circulating via television and social media. They went on to organize one of the biggest anti-racism protests in modern Indonesian history. Thousands of people from all over West Papua attended rallies, holding signs that declared “West Papuans are not monkeys.” The initial protest wave lasted for several weeks, but its repercussions are still being felt today.