Solomons pushes for West Papua inclusion

PORT MORESBY – The Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare has pushed for a West Papuan group to be admitted to the Pacific Islands Forum.

The government’s special envoy on West Papua Matthew Wale said the Solomon Islands is supporting the United Liberation Movement of West Papua’s application for observer status at the Forum.

The ULMWP was granted observer status in the Melanesian Spearhead Group at the regional organisation’s recent leaders summit in Honiara.

Wale said Solomon Islands has also urged PIF leaders to support a resolution calling for the UN Human Rights Commissioner to conduct an assessment on the human rights situation in West Papua.

The Solomon Islands also wants a resolution calling for West Papua to be included on the UN’s decolonisation list.

Wale said the leaders have a moral obligation to deal with the issues responsibly given public opinion and the amount of information about the situation in the Indonesian region.

However other Pacific Islands government, notably those of Melanesian powerhouses Papua New Guinea and Fiji appear reluctant to engage on West Papua at the Forum level to any great extent.

The situation in the Indonesian region was one of the five big agenda items at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Port Moresby and there have been calls for a fact-finding mission to the province.

PNG’s Foreign Minister Rimbink says his country will not do anything to endanger the good relationship it has with Indonesia when it comes to West Papua.