Australian Government accused of blood on its hands over Papuan Asylum Seekers

Nick Chesterfield, spokesman for the West Papua National Authority, said "It shows clearly what the Indonesian government is going to do to these people if they are returned. They embarrassed the government, and they have finally brought international attention to the issue of West Papua."

Mr Chesterfield accused the Howard Australian government of passing on the identities of the asylum seekers to Indonesian authorities "The Australian government has blood on its hands ... there has been an unauthorised sharing of information between DIMEA (Department of Immigration) and the Indonesian government," Mr Chesterfield said, according to a report in The Age newspaper.

According to Australian Greens senator Kerry Nettle four people had been shot by Battalion 753 of the Indonesian army. "I am advised that these four shootings occurred near Paniai - the same area that some of the West Papua boat people who arrived in Australia this week were from. I am concerned that the Australian government allowed Indonesian officials access to the West Papuan asylum seekers. I hope these two matters are not related and am calling on the matter to be investigated," she said.

Two school children have died, with two others believed to be in critical condition, flown to Timika for treatment. The shootings occurred in the Papuan highlands at the village of Waghete. At least 10 of the 43 people seeking asylum in Australia came from this district. Dr Benny Giay, the chairman of the Indonesian human rights group ELSHAM, said the attack appeared to be unprovoked.

"If these reports are true, they add a whole lot of strength to the West Papuan's impending claims for asylum," she said. Senator Nettle said the shootings were "disgusting" and called upon Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer to investigate "what, on the face of it, appear to be reprisals for the recent arrival of asylum seekers in Australia."

Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja said "These reports are particularly disturbing given the West Papuans involved apparently are from the same area as those who are now detained on Christmas Island," she said. "This latest violence highlights the ongoing human rights abuses in that region."

Australian Greens Senator Kerry Nettle believes "Australia should treat the West Papuan asylum seekers like we treated the East Timorese in the 1990s, claims for asylum should be assessed while they live in the community rather than locking them up in detention," said Senator Nettle. "The Government has a chance to show it has learned from recent scandals and should now implement a better approach to asylum seekers by not putting them in a detention centre."

Despite her request the Howard Government has sent the Asylum Seekers by military aircraft to Christmas Island, to the opposite side of the continent.

"Australia has accepted West Papuan asylum seekers in the recent past and with the escalation of repression of the West Papuan independence movement by Indonesia, there is a clear case that these people need our protection. They’ve trekked across the jungle and made a dangerous sea voyage. It is clear they are activists in the West Papuan struggle for freedom and independence. The Government should recognise this and treat these people with dignity and compassion." said Senator Nettle

The Asylum seekers had left Merauke in West Papua for Cape York in a 25m traditional dugout canoe fitted with an outboard motor and flying the outlawed West Papuan flag. A banner on the side said: "Save West Papua people souls from genocide, intimidation and terorist from military government of Indonesia,"

Over 100,000 people, one sixth of the population of West Papua are alleged to have been killed by the Indonesian military in the suppression of the popular movement for independence. West Papua became the twenty-sixth province of Indonesia in 1969 after the so-called "Act of Free Choice", sponsored by the UN, saw the transfer of official administration from The Netherlands, the colonial power, to Indonesia.

Background Information:

West Papua News - http://www.westpapua.net/
Tapol - THE INDONESIA HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN - http://tapol.gn.apc.org/
West Papua Information Kit - http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/cline/papua/
The WEST-PAPUA story: Below a Mountain of Wealth, a River of Waste - http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/104324.php

Sources:
1. Treat West Papuans like East Timorese - 19 Jan, 2006
http://www.kerrynettle.org.au/600_media_sub.php?deptItemID=514

2. Killed Papua man 'asylum seeker payback' - The Age, January 20, 2006 - 3:15PM
http://tinyurl.com/bsej3

3. Two Papua children 'shot dead' - The Age, January 21, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/afdy4

4. West Papuans land in canoe - news.com, 19 Jan 2006
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17865037-2,00.html

5. Indonesian military shoots Papuan schoolchildren - SBS repost on Sydney Indymedia
http://sydney.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=64135&group=webcast