Residents of the Papua New Guinea Border Reject OPM: Return Them to Jayapura

Papua New Guinea (PNG) community leader on the border with Indonesia, Ray Tanji, rejects the presence of Papuan separatist militants in his area. He asked the authorities to send them back to Jayapura.
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In an interview with the ABC Pacific Beat radio program, Ray Tanji stated the presence of Papuan separatist elements in PNG had caused many problems for border residents.


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"I ask the Government of Papua New Guinea to get rid of these people from Vanimo, because it is they who have caused problems at the border so far," he said as reported by ABC Indonesia, quoted on Monday (7/10/2019).
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Tanji is a community leader in Wutung, Vanimo, West Sepik Province, which borders directly with the Skouw district, Jayapura, Indonesia. He asked PNG officials to investigate the presence and activities of Papuan separatist elements in order to maintain the security of local residents. According to him, PNG residents at the border had suffered from the actions of the separatist fighters.
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"The PNG government only needs to do one thing, return them to their own territory, namely to Jayapura," said the traditional leader of Papua New Guinea.
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Separately the West Sepik Provincial Police Commander PNG Moses Ibsagi explained to ABC that his party had never heard of the activities of Papuan separatist elements in the region.
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"I just heard about this. My team has been there and found that the armed contact took place inside Indonesian territory, not in the PNG area," Ibsagi said. He explained that PNG residents were temporarily asked not to visit the border because of security considerations.
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"We ask citizens not to cross the border for a while until the situation improves," he said.
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Meanwhile, on Friday (4/10/2019) last week, residents of Wutung agreed to petition the PNG Government to relocate refugees from Papua who now live in Wutung and other areas on the west coast of Vanimo. This petition, he said, was intended to address security risks for refugees and local residents at the border.
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Local community leaders said that as long as there were refugees in the area, the local residents remained vulnerable to attacks from the authorities. Schools are closed and public transportation is requested not to take PNG passengers who will leave for the Market Limit located in the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.
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Residents reported armed clashes between the Indonesian military and separatist fighters taking place around the Market Limit. The group calling itself the West Papuan Revolutionary Army (WPRA) claimed responsibility for the contact.
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During this time activities across the border both by land and sea occurred around the north coast of PNG near Jayapura. Under normal circumstances, at least 100 PNG residents entered Jayapura and experienced a rapid increase on market days in the Skouw district near the border.

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- reported from Liputan6