<
https://theconversation.com/the-nz-pilot-held-hostage-in-west-papua-is-the-pawn-in-a-conflict-only-real-international-engagement-can-resolve-199601>
"“Phil Mehrtens is the nicest guy, he genuinely is – no one ever had anything
bad to say about him”, says a colleague of the New Zealand pilot taken hostage
this week by members of the West Papuan Liberation Army (TPN-PB) in the
mountainous Nduga Regency.
How such a nice guy became a pawn in the decades-long conflict between West
Papua and the Indonesian government is a tragic case of being in the wrong
place at the wrong time. But it is also a symbolic and desperate attempt to
attract international attention towards the West Papuan crisis.
A joint military and police mission has so far failed to find or rescue
Mehrtens, and forcing negotiations with Jakarta is a prime strategy of TPN-PB.
As spokesperson Sebby Sambom told Australian media this week:
The military and police have killed too many Papuans. From our end, we also
killed [people]. So it is better that we sit at the negotiation table […]
Our new target are all foreigners: the US, EU, Australians and New
Zealanders because they supported Indonesia to kill Papuans for 60 years.
Colonialism in Papua must be abolished.
Sambom is referring to the international complicity and silence since Indonesia
annexed the former Dutch colony as it prepared for political independence in
the 1960s. Mehrtens has become the latest foreign victim of the resulting
protracted and violent struggle by West Papuans for autonomy."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
