Papua conflict challenge for Indonesia

Papua conflict challenge for Indonesia

October 28 2011

Depok, West Java (ANTARA) - Australian Ambassador to Indonesia Greg Moriarty is of the opinion that the conflict in Papua is a bid challenge for the Government of Indonesia in overcoming it.

"It is a challenge for Indonesian government to improve the welfare of the people of Papua," the Australian envoy said in his lecture on "Australia in the Asian Century" at the University of Indonesia in Depok, West Java, on Friday.

Since Indonesia has so far been maintaining the country`s territorial integrity, Gred said the conflict in Papua was not because of foreign intervention.

"The government of Australia deplores endless horizontal conflict in Papua," Greg said, adding that it was a big challenge for Indonesian government.

But he also asked the people of Papua to support the process of government policy to speed up the development full autonomy in the province.

"Indonesia has to be able to find the way out of the conflict in Papua," said the Australian envoy.

Greg further said that the issue of seceding Papua from the unitary state of Indonesia was not the best way out, because what the government of Indonesia has been doing so far was good.

"I really appreciate what the government of Indonesia has done for Papua," Greg said.

According to him, the decision of the people of Papua to secede from Indonesia was a contra-productive issue because what President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono`s government has done so far in term of administration of autonomy policy was much better.

Therefore the Australian envoy asked the Indonesian government to open an active and intensive dialog with the people of Papua to solve the problem.

ENDS

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