The Wire

In the past week, the armed wing of West Papuan independence movement, known as the OPM, declared that it wished to push forward the cause of an independent state through peaceful means. The long-fought independence struggle has been a largely David and Goliath style battle, with the west Papuans merely armed sometimes with bows and arrows. The announcement comes a week ahead Parliament resuming its business in Canberra – and new legislation aiming to crack down on West Papuans seeking asylum here is likely to be again the topic of hot debate. In a moment we will hear from Greens Senator Kerry Nettle on the implications of the move by the OPM but first. Stuart Rees is the director of the centre for peace and conflict studies at Sydney University. A recent report released by the center detail that the Indonesian occupation of west Papua was conducting what was tantamount to genocide against the local inhabitants. He outlined the importance of the move by the OPM.