JAKARTA, Sept 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Indonesia is imposing restrictions on
foreigners visiting its restive Papua region, the government said Tuesday,
after four Australians were deported over claims they took part in
independence protests.
Papua, where a low-level insurgency against Indonesian control has
simmered for decades, has seen two weeks of mass protests and deadly riots
sparked by anger over racism and fresh calls for self-rule.
On Tuesday, Indonesia’s chief security minister Wiranto said the country
would limit foreigners entering its easternmost territory — which has
popular beach destinations — over safety concerns and to weed out suspected
agitators.
“We’ll temporarily limit (access to Papua),” the minister, who goes by one
name, told reporters in Jakarta.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t allow anyone in. There will be filters based
on security and safety issues,” he added, without elaborating.
It was unclear whether the new restrictions would prevent foreign
journalists from going to a region subject to a government-ordered Internet
shutdown since the unrest broke out — a policy slammed by media and free-
speech advocates.
“This is to protect foreigners from becoming victims of the riots,”
Wiranto said.
“It’s difficult to distinguish between foreigners who are there to provoke
and interfere from those who went as tourists,” he added.
Wiranto also dismissed accusations that the government was dragging its
feet on probing claims security forces committed human rights violations,
amid unconfirmed reports that the military shot dead six protesters last
week.
He reiterated Jakarta’s position that it was not open to talking about
Papuan independence.
“The door is closed on dialogue about a referendum,” Wiranto said.
Indonesia took control of Papua, a former Dutch colony on the island of
New Guinea, in the 1960s after an independence vote that was widely seen as
being rigged.
On Monday, Indonesia said it was deporting four Australians who had
entered Papua — which shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea —
on a yacht last month.
The group allegedly participated in a demonstration and raised the banned
“Morning Star” flag, a symbol of Papuan nationhood.
Indonesian authorities have arrested dozens for taking part in protests
and banned demonstrations that could lead to what it described as “anarchist
acts”.
The recent unrest appears to have been triggered by the mid-August arrest
of dozens of Papuan students in Java, who were also racially abused.
Indonesia is deeply sensitive about Papua. In May, a Polish man was
sentenced to five years in prison for plotting with rebels to overthrow the
government in the province.