Vanuatu withdraws from MSG mission to Indonesia, West Papua
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| http://www.komnas-tpnpb.net |
The Vanuatu government has withdrawn
from a Melanesian Spearhead Group Foreign Ministers delegation to
Indonesia to discuss and visit West Papua.
The delegation was to arrive in Jakarta
on Sunday for a four-day visit which stems from a resolution by the MSG
to engage more closely with Jakarta over issues raised about extensive
alleged human rights abuses in Indonesia’s Papua region.
A decision on the formal bid for MSG
membership by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation was
deferred pending the outcome of this visit.
However, Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister
Edward Natapei has pulled out of the visit because his government
believes its scheduled programme shows that the mission is highly
unlikely to achieve what MSG leaders wanted it to achieve.
MSG leaders had wanted to meet various
West Papuan groups, including some leaders of pro-independence
movements, in order to enhance its understanding of the WPNCL’s
membership bid. However, the programme offered by Indonesia only
provides for fleeting, restricted visits by the MSG Foreign Ministers to
Papua and West Papua provinces, and visits to various projects in Bali
and Jakarta.
Vanuatu’s government says there is no
point in visiting Bali or in going ahead with the entire visit if the
MSG is unable to meet with the right people. It’s also taken exception
to a Joint Statement prepared between the MSG Countries and Indonesia,
saying it fails to mention the purpose of the visit or anything to do
with the plight of West Papuans.
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