West Papua activist in high spirits despite disruption in PNG

Transcript

A prominent West Papuan activist's tour of the region was disrupted after being detained by Papua New Guinea immigration and being deported.

Benny Wenda, who is the spokesman for the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, is now in Australia to meet with supporters and promote the acceptance of the ULMWP into the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

Mr Wenda told Koro Vaka'uta the incident in Port Moresby was more about visa issues than politics.

He says he is also confident his movement will be welcomed into the MSG.

BENNY WENDA: Now we are working really hard to lobby from grass roots level to ministerial level so we are confident because we are talking about we are coming back to our family, you know, Melanesia.  That's why I'm really confident that this summit coming up in July will see the Melanesian leaders welcome West Papua in.  At this level we just strategise and delegation will visit every Melanesian country.  There is a mobilisation from the grass roots level already so they feel that West Papua is part of the Melanesian family and that's why we're really confident and this delegation will be lobbying through the next few months.

KORO VAKA'UTA:  You had a few issues with your traveling through Papua New Guinea.  How about the relationship with PNG?  How does that stand?

BW:  It's not really a big deal but it's a technical issue.  In fact the government of Papua New Guinea, Prime Minister himself already stated that West Papua is family.  Based on that we strongly believe that the government level already supports West Papua.  Also now they're building up the grass roots level to support West Papua coming into the Melanesian family. For my deportation, it had nothing to do with this movement, it was a technical issue. PNG stand for West Papua because 50 years is just so long.  They've witnessed their brothers cry, crying for help, crying for 500,000 men and women killed by Indonesia.  It's entire population is already wiped out so that's why a new generation, all new people, across Melanesia, across the Pacific, is finding out.

KV:  I heard that maybe there would be a move to fund-raise for Vanuatu post-cyclone. Is that happening at all?

BW:  I myself appealed for that support because we are a part of that.  We are feeling sad.  Even though we have a struggle but on the other hand we really feel that solidarity with the people of Vanuatu.  Our people of West Papua are collecting money and donations.  They opened a new account for cyclone relief.  In a place called Yahukimo there were some people collecting some money and then Indonesia killed three people because they collected some money for cyclone relief.  It's humanitarian, not talking about independence, not talking about collecting money for independence movement or rebels or whatever but this is for humanitarian purposes.  The military, the police was against the Papuans collecting the money on the street.

KV:  Are you resigned to the fact that there won't be too much follow-up  to those events?

BW:  No one follows up because you know that the West Papua journalists are banned the last 53 years and that's why every shooting in the West Papua Indonesia stigmatises as criminals, stigmatises as rebels.  That's a simple example, what happened in Yahukimo.  Just collecting money for cyclone relief.