New Guinea looks like another planet.
In fact, it looks like it belongs in J.R.R.
Tolkien’s Middle Earth.
But if this were the case, it would definitely be Mordor.
A place where things like this are happening right now, in the 21st century...
Missing explorer discovered in Papua New Guinea Benedict Allen disappeared while searching
for a remote tribe in the South Pacific nation And I know what you are going to say...
Come on Simon!
One bad story doesn’t mean the whole island is that bad!
Yes, you’re right.
It’s even worse.
Papua New Guinea: Women and children killed in tribal massacre
And now you might be wondering...
Why on earth are we talking to you about New Guinea today on VisualPolitik?
What kind of political issues can they have going on?
But believe me, there is a lot to talk about here.
First of all, New Guinea is the third biggest island on the planet, after Australia and
Greenland.
But there is something more.
If you pay attention to the map, you can see the island is divided into two halves by a
perfectly straight line.
This is the border that separates PAPUA NEW GUINEA, a sovereign state, from WESTERN PAPUA,
a region of Indonesia.
It is here, in the Indonesian part, where a big separatist movement has emerged.
So...what would be at stake if Papua became independent from Indonesia?
Well, right here you have one very good reason.
Freeport’s Gold Mine in Papua Largest in the World
Exactly!
We’re talking about gold, copper and, yes, oil and gas.
Remember when I compared Papua to Mordor?
Well Papua even has its own Mount Doom where you can make gold rings and many other things.
This explains why Papuan nationalism is a headache for many.
So today’s question is, what do Papuans really want from Indonesia?
Do they want to be their own country or would they rather join their Eastern neighbours?
Can they get the sovereignty they want?
Today we are going to answer all of these questions but, before we do, let’s look
back at the history of this island.
THE ISLAND NOBODY CARED ABOUT Over the years, New Guinea was controlled
by the United Kingdom, Germany and the Netherlands.
And I say “controlled” because New Guinea was considered so worthless that nobody was
interested in turning it into a proper colony.
Each of these European powers just planted a flag and created a harbor so they could
control the sea routes surrounding the island.
But nobody really cared about what was going on on the island itself.
So, most of the indigenous people of New Guinea didn’t even realize they had been conquered
or colonized by anybody.
So, of course, they kept their tribal system the same as it had been before.
This also explains why nobody really tried to take control of New Guinea during the period
of decolonization.
Basically, during the 1960s and 70s, all the European powers left the island and divided
it into two parts.
The line that divides New Guinea is the 141st meridian.
From this line to the East is Papua New Guinea, an independent, sovereign country.
From this line to the West, we have an Indonesian province.
And you might be wondering... what were all those tribes doing while all this was happening?
So, as I said earlier... many of them had no idea about any of these political maneuvers.
Most of them didn’t even see European people in their day-to-day lives.
For example, the DANI is one of the biggest Papuan ethnicities.
They had been living a Stone Age existence until 1938, when a plane flew over the Great
Dani Valley.
This was the first contact this tribe had had with people from outside the tribe.
And this is far from a minority group.
Dani tribes are estimated to have more than 200,000 people and they represent around 5%
of the Indonesian Papuan population.
Yes, technically they are Indonesian but many of them are not even aware of this.
And you might think that by now, 2019, things have changed: civilization and internet connections
are everywhere, right?
Absolutely not!
Just look at this news story...
This remote tribe in New Guinea cuts boys’ skin with razors so they look like crocodiles
And yes, I said tribes, in plural, because on this island there are more than 1000 tribes.
And perhaps there are many more that we don’t even know about.
And you might say...
Why did Indonesia take the Western part?
The answer is that Indonesia was formerly a Dutch colony.
So, when they got their independence, they claimed this Dutch controlled territory too.
Since none of these tribes protested, it was given to the brand new Indonesian state.
And Indonesians quickly learned to care about this worthless island.
Basically, since the moment SUHARTO, the Indonesian dictator and father of the nation, first set
foot on this island, he realized there was much more there than crazy tribal people.
Today, one third of the gas that Indonesia exports is produced in Papua.
And then, we have the GRASBERG mine.
Wow!!!
Everyday Freeport Produces 240 kg of Gold from Papua!
But wait a minute because it doesn’t end there.
This Grasberg mine is not only the World’s largest gold mine; it is also the second largest
when it comes to copper.
Yes, dear viewers of VisualPolitik, Papua gives a lot in exchange for not very much
from the Indonesians.
And this explains why Indonesia is not willing to let them go.
In fact, the current Indonesian president, JOKO WIDODO is going in the opposite direction.
Yes, until recently the Grasberg mine was owned by a private company and Indonesia has
just nationalized it.
Indonesia Wrests Control of Freeport’s Grasberg Mine, Ending Long Battle
But make no mistake, Indonesian interest for Papua New Guinea ends with the island’s
resources.
Papuan citizens are considered second class citizens and the Indonesians look at them
as inferior.
Racism is so blatant that they are usually called ‘the monkeys’.
And yes, to most of the Papuans, this is an insult...
Papuans turn monkey slur into a revolutionary symbol
These days, with the government lead by Joko WIDODO, things are changing, though.
The Indonesian government is starting to build some highways and passing some laws that are
more friendly to the indigenous people.
But none of this is enough for the Papuan nationalists.
And now you might be wondering...
So what do the Indonesian Papuans really want?
Do they want to join their Eastern neighbours?
Let’s take a look.
BAD PAPUA AND...
EVEN WORSE PAPUA Life is hard in Indonesian Papua... but it
is heaven compared with life in Independent Papua.
Basically, if a tribe gets you there, you could become their dinner.
And no, I am not exaggerating.
Couple kidnapped by CANNIBALS and tortured on dream holiday to Papua New Guinea
But wait a minute because the cities are not much better!
Port Moresby, the capital, is considered the World’s most dangerous city.
It is controlled by the RASKOL, the local street gangs.
Their hobbies include alcohol, drugs and killing.
And I know what you are thinking...
Come on Simon!
There are lots of dangerous cities in the world!
Are you sure Port Moresby is that exceptional?
Well, yes!
Look what happened during the APEC summit.
The APEC summit is the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
In 2018 they wanted to hold a meeting here and... this is what happened.
Papua New Guinea hosts APEC CEO Summit on cruise ship
Yes, no matter how many security companies and bodyguards they could hire, politicians
said they would not set foot on land there.
So the whole event had to be held on a cruise ship, docked next to the coast.
Extreme poverty rates in Papua New Guinea are as high as 40%.
In comparison, the rate in neighbouring Indonesian Papua is 25%.
While elsewhere in Indonesia the rate drops to around 6%.
Of course, we should take all these statistics with a pinch of salt because, as you can imagine,
there are many areas on this island where nobody can really collect reliable data.
Anyway, Indonesian papuans don’t want their gas, oil and gold to be stolen by the Indonesians.
But they don’t want them to be stolen by their Eastern neighbors either.
Basically, they want it all for themselves.
BENNY WENDA is a separatist leader who lives in exile in London.
His goal is to rule what he hopes to name WESTERN PAPUA.
But the question is... could this territory really become independent?
You see, the Western Papua Liberation Movement, led by Benny Wenda, has collected 1.8 million
signatures to request the United Nations hold a referendum.
Now let’s see what could happen if they really go through with this referendum.
How might it play out?
Let’s step back in time for a moment!
THE NOKEN SYSTEM We said that nobody really protested when
Western Papua fell into Indonesian hands.
Well... this is not exactly true.
As we told you earlier, Indonesian Papua was controlled by the Netherlands.
After World War II, Indonesia became independent and wanted to have Papua as part of their
territory.
But the Dutch said this made no sense.
Think about it.
There are more than 3,500 kilometers between Jakarta and Papua.
They don’t have any economic, historical or cultural links.
So, in order to solve this problem they decided to hold a referendum.
The problem?
Well... good luck trying to have free, fair and transparent elections in a place with
1000 tribes.
The 1969 referendum, also known as the Free Election Act, was a charade.
Theoretically, 800,000 papuans were eligible to vote.
But only 1000 people, selected by the Indonesian army, ended up voting and they did it by...
raising their hand!
What’s more, troops made sure that there was just one option to choose from.
So, of course, the result of the referendum was a unanimous cry to become part of Indonesia!
But I know what you are thinking.
Back then, Indonesia was under the dictatorship of SUKARNO.
You cannot expect a dictator to organize free and fair elections.
But now things are different.
Indonesia is a democracy and that should be true for Papua as well.
Nevertheless, the problem is still the same...
How can you organize elections in such a tribal country?
Here is where the NOKEN system comes into the picture!
NOKEN means, in some Papuan dialects, BAG.
Basically, the tribal chiefs go to the electoral body with a bag full of votes and they say
‘this is what my people voted’.
In some cases, there is not even a bag.
The electoral body just go to the tribal chief and ask directly.
--So who are you going to vote for in the next elections?
--Bfff I’ve got no idea, man... maybe... the X party.
Yes, I will vote for that one, the one with the green logo.
--Aha!
Very good! and... how many people do you have in your tribe?
--People?
I have no idea, man!
ehm...
I guess around 300 hundred people... and well, 35 goats.
Because, you know, in our tribe, we believe goats count as humans so I guess they would
get a vote too, right?
--Aha... so that works out to three... hundred... and thirty five votes for the X party...
So very good, sir!
Thank you for voting and have a nice day!
As you can imagine, with such a well-organized system, it is no surprise that the current
Indonesian president, JOKO WIDODO, won a landslide victory in New Guinea by having even more
votes than voters!
Papuan Electoral College finds more than one million people who voted twice in the 2019
elections Now imagine what would happen with this system
on a self-determination referendum.
It would be easy for Papuan independentists to claim all the tribes voted for self determination.
Also, don’t forget that one third of the population resident in Papua comes from Indonesia.
And this is, in fact, the third of the population that can be easily counted on a census.
In other words: the outcome of this referendum would largely depend on who gets to organize
it.
And besides, most of the Papuans wouldn’t even care!
Perhaps, they still don’t even know that they are considered Indonesians now!
So this is why the question is now over to you...
Can Western Papua get out of poverty and become an independent state?
Do you think they can ever get past tribalism... or would it be better to let them be?
Please, leave your answer in the comment section below.
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the vocals on this episode that were not mine.
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And, as always, I’ll see you next time.