PM clarifies position on West Papua

PAPUA New Guinea has never abstained from the West Papua issue at Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) meetings but, rather, has offered solutions that affirm Indonesian sovereignty over its territories, says Prime Minister James Marape.
Marape made this known in an effort to rectify any misinformation and alleviate concerns raised within MSG countries, West Papua, Indonesia and the international community.
“An earlier statement released without consent wrongfully said that at the recently-concluded MSG leaders’ summit in Port Vila, Vanuatu, I informed leaders of PNG’s abstaining from supporting the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) bid for full membership, plus a notation that human rights issues in West Papua are of no concern to PNG,” he said.
“I wish to clarify these misconstrued assertions.”
Marape said PNG at the same time supported the collective MSG position to back the Pacific Islands Forum Resolution of 2019 on United Nations (UN) to assess if there were human right abuses in West Papua and Papua provinces of Indonesia. Regarding his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Marape highlighted: “In the meeting with President Widodo, we stressed our respect for Indonesian sovereignty and their territorial rights, but on matters of human rights, I pointed out the collective Melanesian and Pacific resolutions for the UN to be allowed to ascertain these allegations.
“I also relayed the message that four leaders of Melanesian countries resolved to visit him at his convenience to discuss this matter on human rights.”
Marape said President Widodo had responded that the MSG leaders were welcome to meet with him and invited them to an October meeting subject to their availability.
“He (Widodo) assured me that all is okay in the two Papuan provinces and invited other PNG leaders to visit these provinces,” he said.
He indicated that at a senior leadership level, led by Deputy Prime Minister John Rosso, “PNG leaders can visit West Papua and look into these matters and see firsthand what is happening so we ascertain facts on matters in respect to human rights”.