Foster unending support for the West Papuan Struggle for National Liberation! Down with the Indonesian-colonial rule!

The Merdeka West Papua Support Network joins the people of West Papua in commemorating 54 years since the Papuan people's historic Declaration of Independence. We stand in unwavering solidarity with your aspiration and ongoing struggle for a free West Papua.

On this day in July 1971, through a decisive and militant assertion, the collective resolve of the Papuan people proclaimed the independence of the Republic of West Papua at the Markas Victoria, near the border of Papua New Guinea. This embodied the Papuan people’s capacity to govern themselves and realize their right to self-determination.

This day is not a mere ceremonial activity but a reclaiming of the West Papuan’s dignity, sovereignty, and justice. It recognizes the people who endured a long history of colonization after colonization. The Netherlands colonized West Papua as part of the Dutch East Indies in the 1800s until 1949. It remained an overseas territory of the Dutch until 1962. The sham 1969 "Act of Free Choice" referendum involving only 1,026 handpicked individuals under military duress merely transferred the administration of West Papua to Indonesia.

In present-day West Papua, people continue to suffer the brunt of neo-colonial rule. Basic services such as education and healthcare continue to be lacking, especially in the highland and remote regions. This is despite the fact that West Papua has the richest resource frontier. Natural gas continues to be squeezed dry by foreign corporate entities. Indigenous Peoples receive no benefit nor any semblance of dignified living despite these lucrative business operations. 

US-based mining company Freeport-McMoRan (formerly in partnership with British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto) operates the Grasberg Mine. It is the world’s largest gold reserve, one of the largest copper deposits, and Indonesia's single largest source of revenue. This company, along with other multinational companies operating in the region such as BP (formerly British Petroleum), involved in the Tangguh LNG project, has long been the subject of various criticisms concerning people’s rights and the environment.

To facilitate the widespread imperialist plunder of Papua’s natural riches, the Indonesian government is unleashing its most brutal fascist elements. Relentless military operations, aerial bombardments, torture, and judicial harrasment all aimed at crushing their will to resist.

The connivance between the Indonesian fascist rule and imperialism has been proven last year in the Permanent Peoples Tribunal in 2023 wherein the Indonesian government and imperialist corporations were all found guilty of violating the rights of the Papuan people, and for committing crimes against the environment.

Despite relentless repression, the West Papuan struggle for independence remains as just and urgent as ever. The movement continues to grow through diplomatic engagements, international solidarity campaigns, mass protests, and armed guerilla resistance. 

We call on governments, human rights defenders, international community, and global solidarity networks to join hands with us and the West Papuan people in defending their land, life, resources and identity.

Foster unending support for the West Papuan Struggle for liberation! 

Down with the Indonesian-colonial rule and fascism! 

Resist and pushback against imperialist plunder and corporate exploitation!

Papua, Merdeka! Free West Papua!