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| Yali, Papua
© Jerry Callow/Survival |
'The Indonesian military will use this as a pretext to exterminate
the Papuans.'
Human rights activist, Papua
The tribal peoples of Papua fear a new wave of violence as Islamic militias
move into the province, trying to stir up tension between the majority Christian
population and Islamic settlers. The Indonesian army seems set on using militia
groups to recreate in Papua the violence and terror it brought to East
Timor.
Papua (formerly called Irian Jaya) is the western half of the island of New
Guinea. The 1.2 million tribal people whose home it is have long campaigned for
independence from Indonesia. An estimated 100,000 of them have been killed by
the Indonesian armed forces since 1963.
In recent months, hundreds of members of an Islamic militant group called
Laskar Jihad have suddenly appeared in Papua. The group's actions in another
Indonesian region led to unrest that left 8000 people dead. Laskar Jihad has
also been training an army-supported militia called Red and White; both were
previously unknown in Papua, and are likely to create massive civil disorder.
The Papuan people know that any unrest will be used as justification for a
brutal crackdown by the armed forces resulting in yet more killings.
