Indonesia’s Repression Hasn’t Broken the West Papuan Freedom Struggle
Since 1963, the Indonesian state has occupied West Papua against the will of its people with the full backing of Australia and the US. Despite decades of brutal repression, Papuans are still rising up to demand their national liberation, at home, in Indonesia and internationally.
Members of the Papuan Students Alliance hold a banner during a protest against the signing of the 1962 New York Agreement on August 15, 2013 in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. (Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images)
The Indonesian occupation of West Papua has been in place since 1963, claiming at least 100,000 lives in a country whose total population is 2 million, around half of whom are indigenous Melanesian Papuans. West Papuan Independence Day, which fell on December 1 in 2020, inspired protests by Papuans in eight cities across Indonesia, despite the threat of state repression. Meanwhile, the main resistance coalition in exile has declared a provisional government. To gain a better insight into the ongoing struggle for West Papuan independence, Jacobin spoke to Jason MacLeod, cofounder of the Make West Papua Safe campaign.
Bruce Knobloch
How long has West Papua been occupied by the Indonesian state?
Jason MacLeod
It was first occupied in 1961. Under Indonesia’s then-president Sukarno, there was a small-scale invasion. But it was quickly ended when Papuans rounded up Indonesian paratroopers and handed them over to the Dutch colonial authorities.
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