27 Jun 2014

West Papuans question veracity of MSG report

3:45 pm on 27 June 2014

The West Papua National Coalition for Liberation has questioned the veracity of a report about Indonesia's Papua region upon which their bid to join the Melanesian Spearhead Group hinged.

MSG leaders meeting in Port Moresby have indicated that the coalition's bid to join the group will have to return to the drawing board.

PNG's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill says the West Papuan group should consult with Jakarta, and be "inclusive and united".

The coalition lodged its application over a year ago, and submitted documents of support from over seventy representative groups in Indonesia's Papua region.

West Papua activist Andy Ayamiseba

West Papua activist Andy Ayamiseba Photo: RNZI / Johnny Blades

The MSG postponed its decision on the application pending the outcome of a MSG Foreign Ministers fact-finding mission to Papua.

The coalition's Andy Ayamiseba says the Foreign Ministers didn't even get close to hearing from the right people.

"This report of the Foreign Ministers is totally misleading.. totally misleading. I mean, how could they take the report that we are not representing the majority when it's never met with any one of the representative groups or even civil society."

Andy Ayamiseba