First of all, we need to clarify some things. When we talk about Papua, we refer to West Papua (or Irian Jaya), the western and Indonesian part of the Papua island. It is a region inhabited by different ethnic groups compared to the rest of the country, and it is still partially unexplored due to the poor development of communication routes.
All the tribes of West Papua have suffered greatly following the Indonesian occupation in 1963. According to a lot of press and several international NGOs, the Indonesian army is responsible for the violation of many human rights.
This has caused over the years a slow and gradual disappearance of their tribal life and traditions in favor of a progressive “indonesization”.
In fact, natives are increasingly marginalized: they are forced to retreat to the mountains and rainforests where about 300 different tribes live. Some believe that there are still few tribes “undiscovered”, which means that have not yet got in contact with the external world.
The natural resources of West Papua are intensely exploited by the Indonesian government and foreign multinational corporations. A systematic deforestation of the region has already begun. Tropical forests are decimated with no consideration either for natural reserves or the traditional Papuan land rights. Secular forests are transformed into chipboard for cellulose production, and then exported.
Papuan natives, who still survive in the inland areas, have created the OPM (Free Papuan Separatist Movement) in order to fight for the independence of the province, that was, according to them, illegally annexed to Indonesia. The fight has caused thousands of deaths, arrests, rapes and tortures.
In 2017, this situation was brought to the attention of the United Nations by involving the High Commissioner for Human Rights. To date, the situation has not changed.
