PAPUA MERDEKA, the monthly newsletter of the Free West Papua Campaign

• Mimicking the “All Eyes on Rafah” image that spread across social media in May, an #AllEyesOnPapua image has been shared millions of times on Indonesian social media. The Campaign was initially launched by Indonesian NGOs assisting the Awyu and Moi tribes in their lawsuits against palm oil giants currently destroying their ancestral forests. 

• The Awyu tribe in Boven Digoel are fighting the construction of the world’s largest palm oil plantation, Tanah Merah. The Moi tribe, from Sorong on the West coast of Papua, are struggling against palm oil giant PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo.

• Awareness of the ongoing genocide and ecocide in West Papua is low amongst the Indonesian public, partly due to the decades-long media blackout imposed by the Indonesian government, as well as the potential consequences of showing support for the Papuan struggle. Indonesian activists Harus Azhar and Fatia Maulidiyanti were taken to court for defamation after accusing Government Minister Luhut Panjaitan of having interests in the massive Wabu Block gold mine in West Papua.

• Here at Free West Papua we welcome the #AllEyesOnPapua movement. Public focus on the devastation currently being unleashed in the world’s third-largest rainforest can only be a good thing. But any campaign that doesn’t mention the root causes of environmental destruction – Indonesia’s invasion and sixty-year occupation of West Papua, the continued denial of self-determination, and the mass displacements and killing by the military – will never be effective. #AllEyesOnPapua has to mean all eyes on Merdeka: Papuan liberation.

News from West Papua

• The Kanak people of New Caledonia have been fighting their own anti-colonial struggle against France for over 150 years. The occupation recently entered a new phase, with a proposed French law threatening to permanently tip the balance against the Kanak independence movement by allowing newer arrivals to vote.

• The island has descended into chaos following protests against the bill – France has declared a state of emergency, sent in the tanks and banned TikTok, and eight people have been killed.

• Kanaky and West Papua have a long-standing bond of solidarity, as two Melanesian peoples both fighting for independence. Across West Papua people have shown support for their Melanesian family.
  
  Free West Papua Activity
  
  

What can I do?

• Join the Workers for West Papua Campaign! If you are a trade union member, please get involved by passing our West Papua motion. WFWP recently passed its first union motion after launching in February, but we need to do far more if West Papua is going to be get on the union agenda. Email lfwp@freewestpapua.org if you want to help.

• Donate to the campaign. We say it every time, but taking on Indonesia takes money – and as we don’t have big donors or charitable funding available to us, we’re relying on the solidarity of people like yourself.