Reports from Indonesia's Papua region say more than 40 West Papuans were arrested during the visit by foreign ministers of the Melanesian Spearhead Group in Jayapura.
The ministers visited to vet a formal bid for MSG membership by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation.
Walter Zweifel reports.
"Dozens of Papuan activists were arrested by Indonesian police outside the legislature for demonstrating against the lack of access to the MSG. This appears to confirm concern by Vanuatu, which pulled out of the long-planned visit at the weekend, saying it felt Indonesia was not allowing the ministers access to the people who they sought to meet. Papua, which has seen a low-level separatist rebellion since it was taken over by Indonesia in the 1960s, is closed to foreign media. The head of the MSG delegation, Fiji's foreign minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, has rebuffed the separatists' aspirations, saying the ministers fully respect Indonesia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and further recognise that West Papua is an integral part of Indonesia."
