Merdeka! Agbiag!

Greetings of Solidarity for the 42nd Cordillera Day

Merdeka West Papua Support Network Statement

(Message delivered by Melan Sorabut during the People's Cordillera Day celebration in Mountain Province, Cordillera Region.)

Warmest greetings of solidarity to the Indigenous Peoples of the Cordillera from the Merdeka West Papua Support Network, greeting you a happy 42nd Cordillera Day!

We join you in honoring your Indigenous Peoples martyrs, decades of resistance, cultural pride, and unwavering defense of land, life, and self-determination. 

We are happy to celebrate with your victories and to also remember that the Igorot struggle will continue across generations and across borders.

From West Papua to the Cordillera, our peoples are bound by shared histories of colonization, militarization, and the plunder of ancestral lands in the name of “development.” 

Like the Cordilleran peoples’ historic resistance against destructive projects such as mega dams, destructive mining and energy projects, West Papuans continue to confront large-scale extractive industries like the US’ Freeport Mining destroying our land for 59 years, land grabbing through the Indonesian Food Estates Project, criminalization, enforced disappearances  and brutal government militarization.

Just a few days ago, in the Puncak Regency, Indonesian forces carried ground and aerial attacks resulting in the deaths of at least nine indigenous civilians, injuries to at least six others including children, women and elderly persons.

Both in our own lands, our FPIC is violated, and we are terrorized by state military repression while asserting our right to determine our own future free from colonial and imperialist dictates.

Our common struggle deepened as many times you welcomed West Papuan in Cordillera communities during Cordillera Days, solidarity exchanges and gatherings where we met. We were not treated as guests, but as kin. We have learned so much from your militant movement, and that international solidarity among Indigenous Peoples is not just symbolic, but essential.

As you mark this 42nd Cordillera Day, let us shout Merdeka, Freedom! Agbiag, Long live! May our unity grow stronger, our ways of life flourish, and our resistance continue! 

We reaffirm our commitment to stand alongside you in the fight against imperialism, state violence, and environmental destruction.

From the mountains of the Cordillera to the rain forests of West Papua, long live our Indigenous Peoples solidarity!

Long live international solidarity among Indigenous Peoples!

Defend ancestral lands!

Uphold the right to self-determination!