The Pacific must bring back West Papua to the Oceania family

"The Pacific must bring back West Papua to the Oceania family", these were the words of West Papuan veteran journalist, Victor Mambor, who is part of the Jubi Media team currently on a media tour of Fiji. 

 

At a public lecture this week at the University of the South Pacific, Mambor, highlighted the ongoing struggles for press freedom and human rights in West Papua, adding that indigenous West Papuans continue to face extreme acts of violence and human rights abuses by the Indonesian Government.

He said over the past decade, West Papua has become a heavily militarised area with military personnel continuing acts of intimidation and suppression on West Papuan activists and human rights defenders.   

Mambor stressed that the Pacific must stand in solidarity with West Papua, as it is its closest neighbour and Melanesian relative. ✊🏿

The team from West Papua's Jubi Media consists of independent journalists and filmmakers who have visited non-governmental organisations, universities and media outlets in Fiji, 

#WestPapuanLivesMatter #FreeWestPapua #WeBleedBlackandRed #MediaFreedom #HumanRights 

USP Journalism Students' Association 

JUBI

Social Empowerment and Education Program- SEEP

Fiji Women's Crisis Centre

Pacific Conference of Churches

Pacific Network on Globalisation

Media Release: Forum Foreign Ministers United on Regional Priorities

19 August 2025

Suva, Fiji – Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers met in Suva last week for the 2025 Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting (FFMM). Chaired by HRH Crown Prince Tupoutoʻa ʻUlukalala, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Tonga, the one-day meeting brought together Forum Foreign Ministers and Senior Officials of the 18 Forum member countries to consider key regional priorities, and emerging issues and challenges. 

Ministers held robust exchanges on the political developments in the region, including ongoing developments in New Caledonia and West Papua (Papua). Ministers also discussed the ongoing reforms under the Review of the Regional Architecture, including the Partnership and Engagement Mechanism, and heard a presentation on the High-Level Political Talanoa Report developed by the High-Level Political Group. Recognising the 40th anniversary of the signing of the Rarotonga Treaty, Ministers welcomed the Republic of the Marshall Islands as a new signatory to the Treaty and encouraged ratification by all Forum Members. 

Read full release here: https://bit.ly/474H9x6 

#Regionalism #OneBluePacific #54PIFLM

Historic Deal Reached on New Caledonia's Political Future

After 10 days of intense negotiations in France, New Caledonia’s pro- and anti-independence parties have signed a landmark agreement establishing a new political status: a “State of New Caledonia” within the French Republic. The deal introduces dual citizenship (New Caledonian and French), gradual transfer of powers, and reforms to the long-disputed electoral roll. A public referendum on the agreement is set for February 2026.

Provincial elections have been postponed to May–June 2026 to allow time for ratification and public consultation.

While political leaders praised the deal as a path to peace and stability, many now look toward the Kanak people’s response in the coming months. Will this agreement meet their long-standing aspirations for self-determination and sovereignty?

We also await the position and role of Pacific leaders—how they will respond to this decision, and how they will carry it forward to ensure that the rights of the Indigenous Kanak people to live free and with dignity are fully upheld, protected, and guaranteed in this new political chapter.

#FreeKanaky #Kanaky #NewCaledonia #KanakyLivesMatters #FLNKS #decolonisation  #politicalKanaky #franceinthepacific

𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬-𝐋𝐞𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞

Nice, June 12, 2025 - At the UN Ocean Conference, the governments of Solomon Islands and Vanuatu announced their intention to create the Melanesian Ocean Reserve to safeguard the ancestral waters, homelands, and people of the southwestern Pacific. The area is one of the world’s most biodiverse marine regions. Protecting it will secure the economic and cultural vitality of hundreds of distinct Indigenous Peoples while furthering global climate, biodiversity, and ocean goals.

The Melanesian Ocean Reserve will be the first Indigenous-led multi-national ocean reserve on Earth. When complete, it will span at least 6 million square kilometers of ocean and islands— an area as vast as the Amazon rainforest. It will encompass the combined national waters of the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea, and connect with the protected waters of the Exclusive Economic Zone of New Caledonia.

“For millennia, the Indigenous Peoples of Melanesia have been the wisest and most effective stewards of these sacred waters. That is why the governments of Melanesia are joining forces to create an unprecedented ocean reserve that honors our identities, livelihoods, and spiritual connections,” said Solomon Islands Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele.

“It is an objective of our National Ocean Policy to establish this transboundary corridor of traditionally managed ocean space between our countries, and we are delighted that this is now happening,” said Vanuatu’s Minister for Environment Ralph Regenvanu. “The Melanesian Ocean Reserve will give the governments and peoples of Melanesia the ability to do much more to protect our ancestral waters from those who extract and exploit without concern for our planet and its living beings. We hope our Indigenous stewardship of this vast reserve will create momentum for similar initiatives all over the world.”

France happy with UN reaction over New Caledonia

France says the UN decolonisation committee has welcomed an invitation to New Caledonia following the territory's third rejection of independence from France in December.

The invitation was made by the French overseas minister Sebastien Lecornu who briefed the committee in New York last week.

Mr Lecornu said while the series of referendums under the Noumea Accord has been completed, it only marks a step in the process started in 1988.

He said it is now necessary to get out of the logic of pro- and anti-independence politics and instead open a new page of discussions to build a common institutional framework.

France wants to hold another referendum in June next year about a new, yet to be determined statute for a New Caledonia within France.

In December, more than 96 percent of voters rejected independence in the third and final referendum, which was marked by a majority of voters abstaining.

The vote was boycotted by the pro-independence parties after Paris rejected concerns about the impact of the pandemic and refused to postpone the plebiscite.

Pro-independence politicians visited the UN days before the vote, with their parties rejecting the referendum outcome as illegitimate.

They said they will only discuss a path forward once France has had its presidential elections, and then they will only talk about terms to attain independence.

New Caledonia has been on the UN decolonisation list since 1986

Vanuatu opposition calls for engagement with New Caledonia loyalists

Vanuatu's opposition leader is calling for engagement with New Caledonia's anti-independence side.

New Caledonia last week narrowly rejected independence from France, but a third referendum is likely in 2022.

Ralph Regenvanu, who is a staunch advocate for decolonisation in the region, says New Caledonia is Vanuatu's closest neighbour and home to the largest group of ni-Vanuatu abroad.

He says New Caledonia's independence is the goal of the Melanesian Spearhead Group, for which it was set up.

"We also need to convince the anti-independence lobby that New Caledonia can be a viable state in the Pacific like the other states in the Pacific," he said.

"I know that the anti-independence lobby in New Caledonia often likes to point over to Vanuatu and say 'look, you could become like that if you become independent'.

"For us, it is quite amusing because we think we have got a very good development model happening here," Regenvanu said.0

Post-referendum options raised in New Caledonia

Vanuatu and New Caledonia sign free trade deal