Migrant influx sparks Papua fears

By Greg Poulgrain

THE Indonesian army is secretly funding a massive influx of Javanese migrants into the province of West Papua, despite the Jakarta Government in January this year granting autonomy to the province, formerly known as Irian Jaya.

This rapid boost in transmigration is designed to quell Papuan nationalism, according to a high-level document leaked from Jakarta three months ago. 

The document outlined several options to quell Papuan nationalism, including assassination, increased intelligence operations and the sending of transmigrants in unprecedented numbers.

The transmigration program, which operated in the 1990s, was funded by the World Bank and focused on resettling families but now the arrivals are mostly young men.

They are arriving on ships, seven ships each week, with each vessel carrying up to 1000 new arrivals. The cost of passage is paid for by the army. 

After disembarking at one of the 10 main coastal cities in West Papua, the young men are given motorbikes, to be used as two-wheeled taxis. So the new arrivals have instant employment and accommodation also is arranged.

This flood of young male immigrants from Java, and sometimes Sulawesi, will destabilise the current 60-40 ratio between Papuans and non-Papuans. 

Although Papuans comprise the majority of the province's three million population, they will become a minority in two years if the influx from Java is not stopped. More ominous is the possibility these young men will provide a ready-made militia in the event of social unrest.

A contingent of radical Muslim Laskar Jihad is also included among the transmigrants. According to reports from human rights sources in February, more than 3000 armed Muslims were present in two coastal towns in the most western
reaches of the province.

In April, West Papuan church leaders held an emergency meeting on how to deal with this crisis.

One of the options discussed was the example of Batam, the Indonesian province adjacent to Singapore. Visitors to Batam must pay a levy of about $50 and their stay is limited to three months. 

Indeed, the central government appears only half-committed to granting autonomy to its outer islands as in the case of Batam it is now planning to resume control over the airport and seaport to generate more income for the central government.

In Papua, the reaction to the boats from Java bringing thousands of immigrants has been to accuse Jakarta of deliberately undermining the program of autonomy. The original purpose in granting autonomy -- to defuse the desire for 
the outer regions in many areas of Indonesia to break away from the central government is being undermined. 

*Dr Greg Poulgrain lectures in South-East Asian history at the University of Queensland