New Zealand pilot held hostage by West Papuan rebel group

EPA

Demonstrators in Jakarta call for an independent West Papua, photo December 1, 2022

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 15:52

A pilot from New Zealand has been kidnapped in the Indonesian province of Papua. The 37-year-old man has been held hostage by a separatist rebel group, which says it will not release him until West Papua’s independence is recognized.

A small plane with five passengers was stormed after landing by members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). The passengers were released because they are Papuans, a TPNPB spokesperson said on Facebook. The pilot is alive, according to the rebels, but if the Indonesian government does not agree to the demands made, “he will be executed”.

The New Zealand government confirms the hostage-taking. “The family is receiving consular assistance,” said Prime Minister Hipkins. A spokesman for the local police says that officers and soldiers are looking for the missing pilot. Attempts are also being made to establish contact with the rebels.

West Papua is part of the former Dutch colony of Dutch New Guinea, which remained part of the Netherlands after Indonesia’s independence in 1949. The Netherlands held out the prospect of independence. Under pressure from the international community and a war, the Dutch left in 1962.

Seven years later, the former Dutch New Guinea was assigned to Indonesia after a controversial referendum. Many Papuans feel disadvantaged and some of them continue to strive for independence.

Violence has recently flared up in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. Dozens of rebels, civilians and soldiers have been killed.

TPNPB holds, among others, the European Union, Australia, New Zealand and the United Nations jointly responsible for the bloodshed. “These countries have been supplying Indonesia with weapons to kill indigenous Papuans for 60 years,” said the spokesman.

The government of Indonesia has not openly responded to the rebel movement’s demands.

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