West Papuans celebrate new UK prime minister

This page was created in 2010 and may contain language which is now outdated.

The new UK prime minister David Cameron has given hope to the tribal people of West Papua after he was quoted in an interview with the Daily Telegraph newspaper, before the election, describing West Papua as, ‘a terrible situation’.

Many of Papua’s one million tribal people have been celebrating his appointment in villages across the region. They believe that, uniquely among world leaders, he is sympathetic to their plight.

Exiled Papuan leader Benny Wenda, who has been granted asylum in the UK, has met Mr Cameron and told him about the appalling human rights situation in the region. Benny Wenda fled to Britain after he escaped from prison, having been accused of raising the banned West Papuan flag and causing civil unrest.

The Indonesian military and police have a long history of extra-judicial killings, arrest and torture of those suspected of supporting West Papua’s independence movement. Benny Wenda had been told that his life would be in danger if he remained in prison.

Survival is calling on Indonesia to end human rights violations in the region, and to renew the process of national and international dialogue in order to find a peaceful resolution to the genuine concerns of the Papuan people.