Marius Meta | Papuan historical researchers
Now, for 51 years, West Irian, which is now known as Papua, has become an integral part of the Republic of Indonesia. During this period, Papua has made several important advances, especially after the reformation and enactment of Law no. 21 of 2001 regarding the Special Autonomy of Papua.
“The issues of improving human rights, progress in infrastructure, increasing regional human resources, economic equality, and accelerating development have become priorities as well as experiencing a much faster acceleration than in the previous period.”
Therefore, it is no longer relevant to question the reintegration status of Papua as the legal territory of the Republic of Indonesia. Both de jure and de facto, Papua is an integral territory of the Republic of Indonesia, referring to the democratic political process in the 1969 act of self-determination which states that the Papuan people rejoin the Republic of Indonesia, as well as international law, namely the Resolution PPB No. 2504 stipulated by the UN General Assembly, 19 November 1969 regarding the recognition of the results of the Act.
The entire Indonesian nation must understand its history in its entirety and look at the future of Papua with optimism. All attention and potential must be directed to respond to the various challenges of Papuan development today and the aspirations of realizing the progress and welfare of the entire Papuan people. Issues of separatism, security disturbances by Papuan
Liberation Movement (OPM), internationalization of Papua’s development problems and questioning the legitimacy of Papua’s return to the Republic of Indonesia will only contra productive for the benefit of all Papuan people and will divide the unity of the Papuan people as an integral part of the Indonesian nation.
The whole community should always raise awareness and reject every attempt by various groups, both domestic and foreign, which try to undermine the sovereignty of the Republic of Indonesia over Papua and provoke the community to get caught up in fighting and misinformation that could disrupt the course of national development in Papua. The Papuan people have the right to participate in enjoying the progress of development with the Republic of Indonesia in peaceful conditions without disturbing Papua’s status as the final part of the Republic of Indonesia.
