Leaders of Melanesian nations have delayed their decision on a West Papuan liberation movement bid for historic recognition and equal diplomatic status.
At a summit in Honiara of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu and New Caledonia’s FLNKS failed to agree on full West Papuan membership.
Blamed was a lack of properly defined membership criteria and MSG officials have now been ordered to prepare guidelines.
The United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP) membership application will now be considered at a special MSG meeting to be held in Vanuatu in September.
Indonesia has vigorously lobbied the MSG members not to give recognition to the West Papuans, saying it is the only true representative of Melanesian peoples in five of its provinces and the ULMWP is just an NGO.
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Melanesia weighs historic West Papuan diplomatic status
Last year the MSG upgraded Indonesia from observer to associate member status and accepted the ULMWP as observers.
By recognising the ULMWP, the MSG has led international efforts open talks between the West Papuans group and Indonesia over its two Papuan provinces.
Last month Indonesian diplomats and the ULMWP sat at the same table for the first time at MSG talks in Fiji.
Momentum for the West Papuan cause has been building with Solomon Islands and Vanuatu raising the issue in international forums, including at the United Nations.
Indonesia took over the former Dutch colony in the 1960s, which was formalised through a UN-sponsored but disputed referendum called the ‘Act of Free Choice’.
West Papuan independence groups have fought a decades-long, bloody conflict with Indonesia that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives.
Indonesia is regularly accused of human rights abuses in its Papuan provinces.
Indonesia disputes the ULMWP’s legitimacy to represent the four million people in West Papua, saying it is the true representative for 11 million people of Melanesian ancestry in five of its provinces.
A precedent for the ULMWP is the membership of the MSG of New Caledonia’s Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) independence group.
The MSG was first formed in 1986 and was formalised under an international agreement in 2007 as a forum for Melanesian and economic issues.
