West Papuan activists in Port Vila are demanding the Vanuatu government "take a stronger and more decisive stance" and support the continued struggle for independence from Indonesia.
"Freedom fighters" and "advocates" for a West Papua sovereign state have submitted a formal petition to the government, expressing grave concern that Vanuatu is "not doing enough" to support its Indigenous Melanesian brothers-in-arms.
The stance raised concerns for Vanuatu chiefs, who fear Vanuatu's flagging support for West Papua is declining while the country's diplomatic relations with Indonesia appears to be strengthening to the detriment of the political cause of Papuans.
The petition outlines several actions the Vanuatu government should undertake, including the cancellation of bilateral agreements with Indonesia, for a Vanuatu delegation to accredit the United Liberation Movement for West Papua to international forums, and to revisit a 2010 motion of declaring Vanuatu's foreign policy support for West Papuan independence.
Other points raised include recognising West Papua's provisional government, to advocate for West Papua's elevated Melanesian Spearhead Group membership status, to seek international support for the United Nations' full access to West Papua, and to sponsor the West Papua case before the International Court of Justice.
The chiefs want a written commitment to their demands, stating, "if no response is received before the Melanesian Arts and Culture Festival in Fiji in 2026, the (chiefs) petitioners will boycott Vanuatu's participation".
There has been no official response from either the United Liberation Movement for West Papua nor the West Papua provisional government in exile.
While Indonesia's military has said its presence in West Papua is "not to intimidate the people" but to protect them from tribal violence, human rights advocates, including Human Rights Watch, have said Indonesian forces are causing mass displacement and violence against Indigenous Papuans.
Indonesia has established three new military posts in the Star Mountains region in the past year, according to non-governmental organisation Human Rights Monitor, with sources close to the ground indicating nearby civilian houses and facilities - including a church, health clinic and a number of schools - had been forcibly occupied in support of the military build-up.
Indonesia assumed control of the territory and has occupied West New Guinea since 1962 after the departure of Dutch colonisers across the region.
Following Indonesia's independence from the Netherlands 12 years earlier, Dutch New Guinea was retained as a separate entity on the basis its Melanesian inhabitants were culturally and ethnically distinct from the peoples living on the Indonesian archipelago.
The Dutch formally aimed to prepare the Papuans for its own self-ruling nationhood, however under mounting pressure from Jakarta — combined with diplomatic intervention by the US through the New York Agreement — a two-stage process was outlined where Dutch administration transferred the territory to the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority.
The accord lasted just months before Indonesia ruled the entire Western New Guinea, pending an eventual act of self-determination to be organised under UN supervision.
Advocates around the world celebrated West Papuan National Flag Day on December 1, which saw people raise the Morning Star flag.
Indonesian authorities consider it provocative to raise the banned flag of independence in West Papua.
