life in West Papua

Faced with widespread opposition to its authority, Indonesia has relied on military strategies, oppression, fear, discrimination and cooption to maintain control of West Papua and overcome dissent.

Reliable statistics of human rights abuses are difficult to obtain, and estimates of the number of deaths during nearly 40 years of integration range from 20,000 to 100,000. To this must be added the widespread impact of the pervasive presence of the Indonesian military on the psychology, culture, and well-being of many Papuan communities.

Particularly in remote areas, the military's record and reputation as agents of fear and brutality has ingrained fear and submission in Papuan communities.

Opposition to Indonesian rule has included the armed struggle of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which has been engaged in low-intensity war with Indonesian government forces since integration. While the OPM has never commanded significant military strength, its existence provided both a rationale and pretext for broad-scale militarisation.

Indonesian rule over West Papua has been maintained not only through military might, but also through a more insidious arrangement of structures and systems that have disempowered and disadvantaged indigenous Papuans. The discrimination and structural violence faced by indigenous Papuans has created unequal power relations and unequal life opportunities between Papuan and non-Papuan communities.

Rates of poverty

This is most apparent in the relative disadvantage of indigenous Papuans, both on a national scale and relative to other ethnic groups within West Papua. It is a bitter irony that despite being one of the richest provinces in terms of natural resources, West Papua has one of Indonesia's highest rates of poverty. Moreover, within West Papua, indigenous Papuans suffer higher levels of disadvantage than the migrant communities and have lower access to education, health services and the media.

Development indicators clearly portray the extent of disadvantage in West Papua:

• More than 50 per cent of children under five years old are undernourished.
• Only 40.8 per cent of Papuan children are immunised.
• The maternal mortality rate is three times greater in West Papua than in the rest of Indonesia.
• The spread of HIV and AIDS in the territory has reached an alarming level: it is estimated that as much as five per cent of the population may be infected with HIV.
• The literacy rate is 44 per cent for women, and 58 per cent for men.
• Only 10 per cent of Papuans have a high school education and only one per cent has graduated from college.

Lack of opportunities

Behind this picture of disadvantage are the poor access of indigenous communities to government services and their limited life opportunities. Papuans feel that the bureaucracy does not represent their interests or respond to their needs.

Schools in remote areas lack teaching materials and teachers; school buildings are neglected. The state-centralised curriculum has alienated Papuan pupils from their local cultures.

Government development projects are concentrated in urban areas, where migrants (from other parts of Indonesia) are in the majority. Until recent special autonomy measures were implemented, non-Papuans monopolised positions in the government bureaucracy, particularly senior positions. There has been very low representation of Papuans in executive and legislative arms of government, as well as in the military and police force.

Major businesses are generally owned by investors from outside of West Papua. Migrants dominate the local commercial sector. Migrants often excel in trade, service industries, commerce and construction, and this gives them a considerable advantage over indigenous Papuans, many of whom lack the skills, opportunities or access to credit that would enable them to participate in the cash economy.

Economic divisions

Unequal opportunities between indigenous and migrant communities can breed social jealousy. This is exacerbated by the fact that many Papuans, particularly those in urban areas, are concerned that the increasing number of migrants to West Papua from other parts of Indonesia take their jobs and threaten to make indigenous Papuans a minority in their own land.

It is reported that two-thirds of the population in West Papua's towns now comprises migrants from other parts of Indonesia. It is also expected that the inflow of migrants will increase as investment - such as the liquefied natural gas project being developed by BP (British Petroleum) - also increases. These ventures require qualified and skilled people, and companies often source such jobs from outside West Papua.

The unequal position of Papuans in accessing economic opportunities in the community is mirrored at the national level. For almost 40 years, until recent autonomy reforms increased West Papua's share of income raised in the province, the spoils of investments were largely channelled straight to Jakarta. West Papua got the thin end of the wedge in terms of the advantages of investment.

Not only have the benefits failed to trickle down to local communities, but also the socio-economic impacts have been considerable. Traditional lands have been seized and irreversible damage has been inflicted on the environment. A prime example of this is PT Freeport's mine in Mimika, where there has been massive environmental and social damage in the pursuit of what is said to be one of the world's richest gold reserves.
Papuans' experience with 'investment' has often been a bitter one.

Social tensions

So too, Papuans' experience with 'development' has also been troubled. While Indonesia has undertaken sizeable development programmes and significantly modernised West Papua, these policies have been overlaid with a development ideology that has seriously undermined indigenous culture and welfare.

In the name of development, the Indonesian government sought to 'civilise' Papuans, who it portrays as primitive people, to make Papuans think, act and look like 'Indonesians'. Attempts at 'Indonesianisation', by banning traditional Papuan apparel, undermining traditional governance, as well as restricting cultural practices and symbols, have undermined the identity and dignity of indigenous Papuans.

The breakdown of traditional values and systems has created some social problems in Papuan communities, including alcoholism, the deterioration of work ethics, and domestic violence.

The prevalence of these social problems helps to generate negative stereotypes that fuel discrimination and impede social relations between different ethnic groups. The power imbalance and inequality of opportunity between indigenous Papuans and migrants - as well as social jealousy between these two groups - can create social divides that are extremely difficult to bridge.

Additionally, while the majority of Papuans are Christian, many migrants are Muslim. Religious differences, cultural differences, inequality, negative stereotypes - these are all factors that can breed distrust, tension, and even violent conflict. These sentiments can become particularly acute amid political insecurity, economic scarcity and poor rule of law.

Additionally, social tensions and divides can easily be manipulated by opportunists who may gain from instability. An incident in 2000 illustrated this: 30 people were killed and more than 10,000 displaced from their homes in the highland town of Wamena due to ethnic clashes that are thought to have been engineered by elite interests.