6 Feb 2015

PNG PM speaks out on West Papua

12:50 pm on 6 February 2015

Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister says the time has come for his government to speak out about oppression of West Papuans in neighbouring Indonesia.

Indonesia's Papua region: the provinces of West Papua and Papua

Indonesia's Papua region: the provinces of West Papua and Papua Photo: RNZ

In a departure from his previous deferral to Indonesia on such matters, Peter O'Neill says that PNG cannot keep ignoring abuses by security forces against the indigenous Melanesians of Indonesia's eastern region.

He made the comment at a PNG leaders summit in Port Moresby where he set out his government's core policies for 2015.

Referring to West Papuans as "our people", Mr O'Neill admitted to fellow PNG leaders that sometimes they have forgotten the plight of their fellow Melanesians across the border.

"Pictures of brutality of our people appear daily on the social media, and yet we take no notice. We have the moral obligation to speak for those who are not allowed to talk. We must be the eyes for those who are blindfolded."

Peter O'Neill has suggested he will look to engage more with Jakarta on the issue.