A Catholic organization has joined with advocacy groups to call on Indonesia’s new army chief to change the way the military deals with problems in Papua with a more humanitarian approach.

Stefanus Asat Gusma, president of Catholic Youth, said he hoped General Andika Perkasa, who was sworn in by President Joko Widodo on November 17, would assess the military’s performance in Papua given the frequent clashes resulting in civilian and military casualties.

“The repeated violence causes more unrest and deprives Papuans of a sense of security,” he told UCA News on November 19.

Calls for a change of approach in handling the conflict in Papua have increased among advocacy organizations criticizing a policy of sending more troops to the region to deal with separatist rebels.

Activists said this brutal approach to rebels from the West Papua Liberation Army, an offshoot of the Free Papua Organization, sparked an escalation in violence that increasingly affected civilians.

According to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence, there were 58 violent incidents involving soldiers and civilians between 2017 and 2021, mostly shootings, which killed 69 civilians and injured 135 others.

Every soldier who comes from outside Papua should also be provided with a full understanding of the anthropological aspects of the region.

Gusma said soldiers need to take a more humanitarian approach, including establishing better communication with tribal and community leaders.

“Every soldier who comes from outside Papua must also be provided with a full understanding of the anthropological aspects of the region,” he said.

Gusma, who was also newly elected as Catholic Youth leader on November 13, said his organization would continue to pay special attention to Papua.

He said the group had identified three fundamental issues in Papua, namely a crisis of confidence in the government, the pace of infrastructure development and the differences in perceptions of various social issues between Papua and Jakarta.

Thank you. You are now subscribed to the daily newsletter

General Perkasa, 56, who will only serve as army chief for a year because he is due to retire, has promised to assess the handling of the conflict in Papua.

“The approach I want to take is the same as in other areas [of Indonesia], the same as in Java and elsewhere, because the status of Papua is the same as in other regions, “he said.

Support UCA News…

… .As we move into the final months of 2021, we ask readers like you to help us keep UCA News free.

For 40 years, UCA News has remained Asia’s most trusted and independent Catholic news and information service. Every week, we publish nearly 100 news exclusive and in-depth news reports, features, commentary, podcasts and video broadcasts, developed from a world view and the Church through discerning Catholic eyes.

Our journalistic standards are as high as those of the quality press; we are particularly focused on a rapidly growing part of the world – Asia – where in some countries the Church is growing faster than pastoral resources can meet – South Korea, Vietnam and India for n ‘to name just three.

And UCA News has the advantage of having in its ranks local reporters covering 23 countries in South, South-East and East Asia. We report the stories of the local people and their experiences in a way that the Western media simply does not have the resources to reach. And we report the dawning life of new Churches in ancient lands where being Catholic can sometimes be very dangerous.

With declining support from financial partners in Europe and the United States, we need to appeal for support from those who benefit from our work.

Click here to find out how you can support UCA News. You can tell the difference for as little as US $ 5 …