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From GuĂ„han to West Papua: It’s Time for Pasifika Leadership, Not Lip Service

  • Writer: Merdeka Secretariat
    Merdeka Secretariat
  • 1 day ago
  • 3 min read

MEDIA STATEMENT

06 September 2025

For Immediate Release


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As Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders gather in Honiara for the 54th Leaders’ Meeting, Pacific communities are demanding more than diplomatic platitudes—it's time for Forum Leaders to end the silence and act on the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in our region.


The recent forced transfer of four West Papuan prisoners from Sorong to Makassar, their crime is for engaging in peaceful negotiations. It is widely condemned as a calculated tactic to isolate, intimidate, and silence pro-independence voices.


“This is not just a legal violation—it’s a psychological assault,” said Ronny Kareni, West Papua human rights advocate and trained diplomat.


“It’s designed to crush the human spirit and send a chilling message to anyone daring to speak out. This is part of a long-standing state strategy to criminalise peaceful resistance and erase Papuan identity.”


The transfers come amid a surge in militarised violence in Sorong last week, where Indonesian police opened fire on peaceful protestors and arrested 30 people. While many were released with bruises, two remain hospitalised with bullets still lodged in their bodies. Among those most at risk is Sayang Mandabayan, a mother of five and prominent women leader. Her home has been raided, her husband arrested, and she continues to face covert surveillance—masked as ‘family visits’ by military-linked relatives.


“How would Forum Leaders respond if it were their own mother, sister, or daughter being judicially harassed under the guise of law?” asked Esther Haluk, a human rights defender and women advocate.


“Sayang is not a threat—she is a voice of peace, truth, and resilience. Her courage reflects the strength of our region’s women, and she deserves protection, not persecution,” added Haluk.


Beyond individual cases, West Papua is facing a full bown humanitarian crisis. As of mid August 2025, over 100,000 people in West Papua remain internally displaced due to ongoing military operations and armed conflict between Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). The scale and duration of the violence meets the threshold of a non-international armed conflict, yet receives little international scrutiny.


But this militarised repression is not unique to West Papua. Across the Pacific—from GuĂ„han (Guam) to Hawai‘i, Maohi Nui, and Papua—grassroots communities are resisting the expansion of foreign military infrastructure. In each of these places, sovereignty struggles are met with surveillance, displacement, and environmental destruction, all under the guise of so-called ‘security.’


“Militarism is the common thread in our colonisation,” said Monaeka Flores, a sovereignty advocate with Prutehi GuĂ„han.


“From Guam to West Papua, our lands are occupied, our people surveilled, and our futures militarised. The Pacific must unite to dismantle these systems and defend our right to self-determination,” Flores added.


Despite nearly two decades of Pacific communiquĂ©s acknowledging the human rights concerns in West Papua, regional action remains stalled. The 2019 PIF Leaders’ CommuniquĂ© and the 2023 MSG agreement to appoint a Special Envoy, including commitment from Fiji and Papua New Guinea, have yet to be executed. Instead, governments had prioritised bilateral deals and security training, while sidelining the lived realities of militarised repression.


Australia’s silence at the recent Australia–Indonesia 2+2 meeting, where human rights were conspicuously absent from the agenda, further exposes the gap between rhetoric and responsibility. Welcoming Indonesia’s Pacific Elevation while ignoring its repression in West Papua is a betrayal of regional values.

“Any defense cooperation that ignores human rights is not diplomacy, its complicity. Pacific Leaders must stop hiding behind CommuniquĂ©s and start showing moral leadership,” Kareni concluded.

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“The Pacific is not a military playground. From GuĂ„han to West Papua, our people are resisting occupation and militarism. The Pacific has always been a region of moral courage. It’s time our Leaders lived up to that legacy,” Flores added.


Background & Further Information:





For Media inquiries:


Esther Haluk – nellyeesther66@gmail.com


Monaeka Flores – +1 671 483 9612 | prutehigu@gmail.com


Ronny Kareni – +61 401 222 177 | merdeka.sec@gmail.com

 
 
 
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