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WEST PAPUA
- INDONESIA
Western New Guinea is the western half of the island of New Guinea.
It is the easternmost part of Indonesia, consisting of two
provinces: Papua and West Papua. It was previously known by various
names, including Netherlands New Guinea (1895–1 October 1962), West
New Guinea (1 October 1962–1 May 1963), West Irian (1 May
1963–1973), and Irian Jaya (1973–2000). The incorporation of western
New Guinea into Indonesia remains controversial with human rights
non-governmental organizations (NGO), including some supporters in
the United States Congress and other bodies, as well as many of the
territory's indigenous population. Many indigenous inhabitants and
human rights NGOs refer to it as West Papua.
During the 1950s the Dutch government began to prepare Netherlands
New Guinea for full independence and allowed elections in 1959; an
elected Papuan council, the New Guinea Council (Nieuw Guinea Raad)
took office on April 5, 1961. The Council decided on the name of
West Papua, a national emblem, a flag called the Morning Star or
Bintang Kejora, and a national anthem; the flag was first raised —
next to the Dutch flag — on December 1, 1961. However, Indonesia
threatened with an invasion, after full mobilisation of its army, by
August 15, 1962, after receiving military help from the Soviet
Union. Under strong pressure of the United States government (under
the Kennedy administration) the Dutch, who were prepared to resist
an Indonesian attack, attended diplomatic talks. On October 1, 1962,
the Dutch handed over the territory to a temporary UN administration
(UNTEA). On May 1, 1963, Indonesia took control. The territory was
renamed West Irian and then Irian Jaya.
Western New Guinea was annexed by Indonesia under the 1969 Act of
Free Choice in accord with the controversial 1962 New York
Agreement. During the rule of President Suharto from 1965 to 1998,
human rights and other advocates criticized Indonesian government
policies in the province as repressive, and the area received
relatively little attention in Indonesia's development plans. During
the Reformasi period from 1998 to 2001, Papua and other Indonesian
provinces received greater regional autonomy. In 2001, a law was
passed granting "Special Autonomy" status to Papua, although many of
the law's requirements have either not been implemented or have been
only minimally implemented.
In 2003, the Indonesian central government declared that the
province would be split into three provinces: Papua Province,
Central Irian Jaya Province, and West Irian Jaya Province.
Opposition to this resulted in the plan for Central Irian Jaya
province being scrapped, and even the designation of West Irian Jaya
Province is still legally unclear. Despite this, the West Irian Jaya
(Irian Jaya Barat) province was formed on February 6, 2006 and the
name was officially changed to West Papua (Papua Barat) on February
7, 2007. The independent sovereign state of Papua New Guinea (PNG)
borders Papua Province to the east.
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