Topic: 2025-Situation in Indonesia and West Papua
Country: Somalia
Delegate Name: Ethan Hess
When Indonesia gained its independence from Dutch influence in the mid-1900s and sought to negotiate the transfer it faced pushback from both the Dutch and the young United Nations to help them unite West Papua into their territory. It took until 1962 for the Dutch to hand West Papua to Indonesia, an act facilitated by the UN after several decades of failed resolutions. Yet even then fighting between groups who would later become the Free Papua Movement and Indonesian forces continued up through1969 when the Free Choice Act which sought to survey whether West Papua would seek to join Indonesia was put to vote. This coercive vote ended in favour of a united Indonesia, but the vote did nothing to quell the West Papuan’s desire for self-determination.
In the modern day, fighting between Indonesian forces and the Free Papua Movement continues through sporadic guerilla attacks by the Free Papua movement on Indonesia. Riots too occur throughout villages in both regions. Indonesia has been accused of committing a genocide of West Papuans, but no United Nations body has assigned this conflict as such. Indonesia has been faulted as focusing on the effects rather than the causes of this conflict, as their government has focused on counter-insurgency initiatives rather than sincere political negotiations with members of the Papua Liberation Movement or representatives of the Indigenous Papuans.
Somalia is sympathetic to Indonesia’s situation, a situation of internal civil unrest caused by colonization even decades after European forces left their nation. These circumstances are all too familiar to Somalia. Our delegation hopes to urge the United Nations towards a resolution aiding Indonesia in the same way we would hope to be aided. We hope the United Nations will commit itself to helping Indonesia quell the persistent Insurgent group or at least permit aid towards that end, and we hope to see the UN condemn the Free Paupa Movement’s methods of conflict and its role as an insurgent group.
