𝑵𝒆𝒘 𝒀𝒐𝒓𝒌, 𝑻𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝟐𝟑 𝑺𝒆𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓 – Prime Minister Hon. Jeremiah Manele who is also Chair of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF), welcomed Pacific Leaders to a special reception at The Sanctuary, Roosevelt Island, New York, on the sidelines of the 80th United Nations General Assembly.
Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister Manele highlighted the shared journey of the Forum over the past 54 years and the importance of unity under the theme: Iumi Tugeda: Act Now for an Integrated Blue Pacific Continent.
“Our presence here in New York provides us the opportunity to be united with one voice and be heard by the international community. Whether we are raising climate ambition, defending our oceans, or championing gender equality and youth leadership, our strength comes from speaking as one family,” the Prime Minister said.
He reaffirmed the Pacific’s commitment to global engagement, noting that initiatives like the Pacific Roadmap for Economic Development and regional commitments in peace and security, education, health, labour mobility, gender equality, social inclusion, and digital connectivity reflect the collective priorities of the Pacific peoples.
“The Pacific is not a stage for others, it is a region that leads with clarity, courage, and conviction,” Prime Minister Manele added.
At UN, I presented our unity, culture, biodiversity amidst our challenges. And I pledged PNG to be a bigger manufacturing based economy by 2045, so the next 20 years is for all of us to work more. Nothing is impossible if all of us work harder!
Papa Somare in Vision 2050 aimed for a ‘ happy wealthy smart nation’ where PNG’s HDI is among the top 50 nations by 2050 and I echoed those words in my ‘ richest black Christian nation’ statement in 2019.
We have but 25 more years to go to 2050 and I want all of us to work hard the next 20 years so by the time we celebrate 70 years in 2045, we can say we are ready to progress into the 2050s with joy for our children’s future has been secured by our work.
Our law and order must be improved, education must be relevant to grow the economy, cheaper reliable power and ICT, enabling infrastructures and modern healthcare systems must be the work of my government and those after me if we are to move in this direction and destiny .
I pray for God’s special blessing for PNG and I ask all of you to work faithfully for your country.
During the1813th plenary meeting, 19 November 1969, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution on West Papua.
The Act of Free Choice was provided by the New York Agreement. It is argued by Papuan nationalists fighting for independence that the status of West Papua was still subject to international law. And, its application as to the status of West Papua. In other words, the process of decolonisation is incomplete.
Here is why.
2504 (XXIV). Agreement between the Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea (West Irian)
The General Assembly,
Recalling its resolution 1752 (XVII) of 21 September 1962, in which it took note of the Agreement of 15 August 1962 between the Republic of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands concerning West New Guinea (West Irian), acknowledged the role conferred upon the Secretary-General in the Agreement and authorized him to carry out the tasks entrusted to him therein,
Recalling also its decision of 6 November 19635 to take note of the report of the Secretary-General on the completion of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in West Irian,
Recalling further that the arrangements for the act of free choice were the responsibility of Indonesia with the advice, assistance and participation of a special representative of the Secretary-General, as stipulated in the Agreement,
Having received the report on the conduct and results of the act of free choice submitted by the Secretary-General in accordance with article XXI, paragraph 1, of the Agreement,
Bearing in mind that, in accordance with article XXI, paragraph 2, both parties to the Agreement have recognized these results and abide by them,
Noting that the Government of Indonesia, in implementing its national development plan, is giving special attention to the progress of West Irian, bearing in mind the specific conditions of its population.
The demand for freedom is a specific condition of indigenous Papuans. This was the reason for the deadlock over Dutch New Guinea or West Papua between Indonesia and the Dutch.
It went on for 4 years from 1945 - 1949. After 1949, the Dutch began the decolonization process for West Papua. Indonesia invaded to stop the preparation for self - government.
The Act of Free Choice happened as provided by the New York Agreement. Finally, UN Resolution 2504.
West Papua is still a colony. UN Resolution 2504 says so.
The UN was in a position to only ' take note of the report of the Secretary-General on the completion of the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in West Irian.'
Today, 61 years later. West Papua is still qualified to be free.
Vanuatu's prime minister has again pressed the United Nations General Assembly over human rights abuses in West Papua.
During his speech in New York, Charlot Salwai lamented how some Pacific territories are yet to break the shackles of colonialism.
Mr Salwai cited France's territories of New Caledonia and French Polynesia, as well as Indonesian-ruled West Papua.
He called on the administering powers to respect UN processes and ensure people in these territories can have their self-determination views heard.
Mr Salwai called for use of the UN system to find solutions to violations of West Papuans' human rights.
"The resolution of the leaders of the Pacific Islands Forum calls on the office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit West Papua to conduct an assessment based on concrete proof regarding the human rights situation."
Rayyanul Sangadji, a junior Indonesian diplomat from Ambon, Maluku, exercised the country's right of reply to Vanuatu's statement.
"As an Indonesian with Melanesian roots, I can tell you we do not like to be clustered, categorised, or worse, divided by another, faraway country," he said.
"Papua is, has [been] and will always be, part of Indonesia."
Exclusive: West Papua continues to be rocked by bloody violence as Indonesian security forces and pro-independence protesters clash. And Australia has been urged to do more to end the bloodshed.
BY VIRGINIA LANGEBERG
Australia has been urged to “step up substantially on the issue of West Papua”, with Vanuatu’s leaders taking to the stage of the UN General Assembly to “emphatically condemn” alleged human rights violations in the region.
Following reports of a mass exodus from the town of Wamena, in the Indonesian province of Papua, and increased violence on Monday, Vanuatu urged global leaders to assist West Papuans.
“We condemn, emphatically, violations of human rights of the indigenous people of West Papua,” Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas told the UN.
Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai Tabimasmas at the UN. FR170574 AP
The island nation’s foreign minister declared “history will judge us”, urging Australia to step up.
“We’re very worried because it’s happening right now there is a crisis going on,” Ralph Regenvanu said.
“Some international law experts have called it genocide; I mean it fits the criteria of a genocide. History will judge us and we have to be on the right side of history.
“Australia’s got to step up substantially on the issue of West Papua, particularly because it’s on the Human Rights Council, it is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum.”
Activists said Papuans responded by setting fire to several buildings.
On Saturday, the Indonesian Embassy stated the official death toll was 33 – saying most died in the fires and some 3,500 locals were displaced following the chaos.
Smoke rise from a burning building during a violent rally in Wamena, Papua Province, Indonesia. AP
But a report in The Guardian has suggested the actual death toll was at least 41, with one witness saying he saw up to 20 people shot dead by police, while Papuans tried to fight back with rocks and arrows.
“Papuans are also terrified. They are thinking, ‘if the government is so quick to help settlers leave, what is being planned after that’,” one Wamena local told The Guardian.
Exiled West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda was among a group of Pacific leaders who met with the UN Secretary-General earlier this week to stress the importance of a UN visit to the region.
“I continue to lobby that in here in the United Nations to send the UN High Commissioners to West Papua but Indonesia (will) not allow,” he told SBS News.
“So I hope that Indonesian government and President Jokowi will allow the UN High Commissioner to visit West Papua because this is a human rights crisis happening right now in West Papua.”
West Papuan independence leader Benny Wenda. Supplied
In recent weeks, Indonesia has deployed more than 6,000 troops into West Papua to quell the growing push for independence and Amnesty International has called Monday’s violence, one of the bloodiest days for Papua in 20 years.
But Australian has urged restraint on both sides, with Foreign Minister Marise Payne urging “absolute restraint” to deescalate the situation.
“We are obviously very concerned about the reports of violence in Papua [and] West Papua,” she told SBS News this week.
“They are matters which our post in Jakarta is following up with authorities there.”
Labor’s foreign affairs spokesperson Penny Wong condemned the violence, but also stayed neutral.
“We have raised concerns about human rights violations in West Papua and we will continue to work to uphold the universal right of all people to peacefully express their political views including in West Papua,” she said in a statement.
“Labor fully respects the territorial integrity of Indonesia; respect for each other’s territorial integrity is enshrined in the Lombok Treaty, which remains the bedrock of security cooperation between our two countries.”
.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was vital “to save the Pacific to save the world” as he wrapped up his brief South Pacific tour in Vanuatu on Saturday.
Guterres has spent the past week in the region pushing for urgent action ahead of a U.N. summit in September billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change.
According to the U.N., Vanuatu is the world’s most at-risk country from natural hazards, but Guterres said it was also “leading the way” with is resilience.
At a joint press conference with Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, Guterres praised the way the country had bounced back from the catastrophic Cyclone Pam which lashed the archipelago in 2015.
It claimed at least 15 lives, flattened villages and impacted nearly half the 300,000 population.
“It is clear that the Pacific is on the frontline of climate change even though they don’t contribute to climate change,” Guterres told AFP, referring to low-lying Pacific islands which are threatened by rising sea levels.
“So the Pacific has the moral authority to offer a lesson for the rest of the world. We absolutely need to save the Pacific to save the world.”
What’s Next
The U.N. target is to limit rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial revolution levels and Guterres urged governments “to understand that we need transformative measures, in industry, in agriculture and in relation to the oceans.”
“I believe it is time to recognise that we need to shift taxation away from people to carbon and pollution instead,” he said.
“We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels. It doesn’t make any sense that taxpayers’ money is contributing to increased storms, the spread of drought, glaciers melting, corals bleaching and putting these islands in danger.”
More on the Subject
On Saturday, The Guardian has become the first outlet to change the language it uses to cover climate change.
“Instead of ‘climate change’ the preferred terms are ‘climate emergency, crisis or breakdown’ and ‘global heating’ is favoured over ‘global warming,’ although the original terms are not banned,” Damian Carrington, the Guardian’s environment editor wrote.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was vital “to save the Pacific to save the world” as he wrapped up his brief South Pacific tour in Vanuatu on Saturday.
Guterres has spent the past week in the region pushing for urgent action ahead of a UN summit in September billed as a last chance to prevent irreversible climate change.
According to the UN, Vanuatu is the world’s most at-risk country from natural hazards, but Guterres said it was also “leading the way” with is resilience.
At a joint press conference with Vanuatu’s Prime Minister Charlot Salwai, Guterres praised the way the country had bounced back from the catastrophic Cyclone Pam which lashed the archipelago in 2015.
It claimed at least 15 lives, flattened villages and impacted nearly half the 300,000 population.
“It is clear that the Pacific is on the frontline of climate change even though they don’t contribute to climate change,” Guterres told AFP, referring to low-lying Pacific islands which are threatened by rising sea levels.
“So the Pacific has the moral authority to offer a lesson for the rest of the world. We absolutely need to save the Pacific to save the world.”
The UN target is to limit rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial revolution levels and Guterres urged governments “to understand that we need transformative measures, in industry, in agriculture and in relation to the oceans”.
“I believe it is time to recognise that we need to shift taxation away from people to carbon and pollution instead,” he said.
“We need to stop subsidies for fossil fuels. It doesn’t make any sense that taxpayers’ money is contributing to increased storms, the spread of drought, glaciers melting, corals bleaching and putting these islands in danger.”
Head of West Papua Mission Andy Ayamiseba (left) and Dr. Ondawame in a pose few months before his death - By Len Garae
Prime Minister Joe Natuman’sdecision to pay tribute to the late West Papuan freedom fighter, Dr. John Otto Ondawame from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 29, was and is an indication of how close to the heart Vanuatu and its people hold the continuing suffering of the people of the Melanesian country in the Indonesian military strangled hold, and their determination to see the West Papuans finally free of colonial bondage.
The Prime Minister said Dr. Ondawame was a freedom fighter from West Papua who passed away last month while in exile in Vanuatu. “He was laid to rest in my country as a hero who had fought for the rights to self determination for the people of West Papua. He and other martyrs had a dream that one day the United Nations and all nations advocating and promoting the democratic principles will hear their cries and deliver the promise of a self-determined future. At his funeral service, I stated that his struggle for freedom and justice will continue to be our struggle until colonialism is eradicated”, the Prime Minister said.
While the Prime Minister focused on the late Ondawame, he said there are many other heroes in many countries that are still voiceless and are suffering in silence either due to unilateral policy choices or because of ignorance by the multilateral system. “My country is encouraged by the onset of flexibility exercised by the United States of America towards the Cuban people. I believe the willingness for dialogue and consideration is a responsible gesture that will slowly open the door for a better future for all Cubans. We as individual countries must be ready to be a voice of the voiceless. Bigger and richer countries must be the burden bearer for small nations. In doing so, we demonstrate the willingness to live as a village, a world community of friends and not aggressors. I want to stress that the only way to address this issue is through dialogue and unity. It is our moral responsibility not to fail those who have been victims of past ignorance”, he said.
The Prime Minister began his address by congratulating the people of the Republic of Fiji Islands for successfully and peacefully electing a new democratic Government. “My Government commends the people of Fiji for their resilience and steadfastness and I wish to congratulate the newly elected prime Minister, for fulfilling his promise to the international community to successfully lead his country to a democratic election”, he said.
The first diplomat from a member country attending the UNGA to congratulate him for his staunch address was Fiji’s own Minister for Foreign Affairs, Inoke Kubuabola.
Representatives of Foreign Missions from Europe, Africa, Asia and the Pacific also congratulated the Prime Minister for his eye opening address.
