Article; Indonesia's New Suva Base from Pacific Magazine with Islands Business. March 2002

at http://www.pacificislands.cc/pm32002/pmdefault.cfm?articleid=5 

My Say

Robert Keith-Reid
Indonesia's New Suva Base

-- Keeping A Lid On Explosive West Papua Is The Agenda

Indonesia's Secretary-General for Foreign Affairs, Arizal Effendi, was in Suva in February to discuss his country's intention to open an embassy in the Fiji capital. Last year at Nauru, for the first time, Indonesia was present as an observer at the annual Pacific Forum meeting of the government leaders of independent Pacific Island countries.

It participated in the post-Forum meetings at which some European, Asian and North American governments discuss their political, aid and other relations with the Forum's 14 island state members. It has taken a considerable time for Indonesia to decide to become directly acquainted with Pacific Islands governments - more than 30 years, measured by the time the islands began to obtain independence.

Since its own independence, not that much longer ago, Indonesia of course has its own priorities and distractions, such as its invasion of East Timor, its attempt to invade former British colonies in Borneo, its suppression of independence movements in various parts of its own national borders, and the chaos brought to its own internal affairs by a succession of massively corrupt government regimes.

Photo
Arizal Effendi, Indonesia's Secretary General of Foreign Affairs.

There was also its seizure, in sordid collusion with the United Nations and the United States, of the west half of New Guinea and subsequent ruthless economic exploitation, not to mention frequent massacre, of the territory's now 2.5 million indigenous inhabitants. 

In Suva, Mr. Effendi spoke of improving relations with Fiji in such areas as tourism, agriculture, technology, and industry. But the embassy it intends to open in Suva will be its daily point of contact with not only Fiji but also the 13 other Forum island countries through the embassies they have in Suva or through the Suva-headquartered Pacific Forum Secretariat.

What is Indonesia's real motive in at last acknowledging the presence of the clutch of very small and unimportant countries in the immediate neighborhood to east and north east of it?
Indonesia's corruption-rotted but resilient economy may be able to toss the Pacific Islands a few baubles, but a return on a modest investment is sought by the Indonesians?

Surely it can be nothing more than to simply keep the lid on western Papua, where the bulk of Papuans want independence and thus freedom from the robbing of their land, forests, minerals and
freedom from the murderous attentions of Indonesia's army. In recent years two Forum members, Papua New Guinea and Australia, both the immediate neighbors of more than 200 million Indonesians, have striven to appease them by blocking any discussion by the Forum of the desperate plight of West Papua's Melanesian people. What a contrast this is compared with the Forum's past history of intervention in the affairs of the Melanesians of French-ruled New Caledonia and of some happening in other places far away. 

The Forum's craven attitude was topped at last year's Nauru meeting, apparently under pressure from Australia and PNG, by the Nauru Government's barring of a lobbyist from West Papua's freedom
movement. With this year's meeting slotted for Suva, will the Fiji Government also knuckle under?

Australia is now desperate for Indonesian help in blocking the movement to its shores of Asians who use Indonesia as a final stepping-stone for sliding illegally into Australia.

It will be a surprise if this year's Forum host is not urged to follow Nauru in taking steps to avoid embarrassment for the Indonesian delegation.