This edition of the West Papua Report features a PERSPECTIVE by a longtime observer of West Papua. This is the second of a three-part series. This part focuses on the growing crisis in Papuan society posed by decades of neglect of essential services and a breakdown of governance. The author also explores the causes and consequences of fundamental demographic shifts in West Papua. In particular, he describes the destructive impact on West Papuan society arising from central government efforts to divide existing political structures into ever-smaller units and the accelerating marginalization of Papuans through the government-supported migration of non-Papuans into Papuan lands.
Activists associated with the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) face continued persecution, as security forces threaten the organization and others who plan on May 1 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Indonesian annexation of West Papua. The West Papua Advocacy Team calls on the U.S. government to monitor security force activity in West Papua associated with the May 1 demonstrations. This edition's UPDATE section also welcomes the launch of the website Papuans Behind Bars, which will help human rights activists around the world monitor the plight of Papuan political prisoners. The UPDATE also notes the collapse of central government health care systems for Papuans, as well as the persecution of those who seek to reveal this crisis. In addition West Papuans continue their diplomacy aimed at membership in the Melanesia Spearhead Group. In the CHRONICLE section, the Report notes continuing media coverage of a vast military-run road development scheme in West Papua, a May 1 statement from imprisoned Papuan leader Edison Waromi, and a recent review of the plight of Papuan political prisoners.
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