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Category: MSG membership

  • MSG throws away golden chance to reset peace and justice for West Papua

    By David Robie, editor of Asia Pacific Report

    The Melanesian Spearhead Group has thrown away a golden chance for achieving a historical step towards justice and peace in West Papua by lacking the courage to accept the main Papuan self-determination advocacy movement as full members.

    Membership had been widely expected across the Pacific region and the MSG’s cowardly silence and failure to explain West Papua’s fate at the end of the two-day leaders’ summit this week was a tragic anticlimax.

    Many see this as a terrible betrayal of West Papuan aspirations and an undermining of Melanesian credibility and solidarity as well as an ongoing threat to the region’s security and human rights.

    It is also seen as a success for Indonesia’s chequebook and cultural diplomacy in the region that has intensified in recent years and months with a perception that Jakarta has bribed its way to prevent the United Liberation Front for West Papua (ULMWP) from upgrading its status from observer to its rightful full membership.

    Questions are often asked about why is Indonesia even in the MSG, albeit only as an associate member, when this an organisation was founded with a vision expressed in Goroka, Papua New Guinea, for Melanesian independence, solidarity and development.

    Its own website declares that the MSG stands for “a strong and shared political desire, for the entire decolonisation and freedom of Melanesian countries and territories which [are] still under colonial rule in the South Pacific, thereby developing a stronger cultural, political, social and economic identity and link between the people and communities of Melanesia.”

    Why have a Trojan horse in their midst? A former Vanuatu prime minister, Joe Natuman, questioned the direction of the MSG back in 2016 when he claimed the West Papuans had been “sold out” and likened the failure of the organisation to grant ULMWP membership to when Jesus Christ was betrayed and sold for 30 pieces of silver.

    Driven by ‘own agendas’
    He complained at the time that “some people” were trying to drive the MSG for their own agendas with implied criticism of Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

    Deputy Prime Minister Joe Natuman … accused of stopping a police investigation team from carrying out a 2014 inquiry into a mutiny case involving senior police officers. Image: Dan McGarry/Vanuatu Daily Post

    Earlier this year, Natuman was even more explicit when he admitted that the MSG had made a mistake by allowing Indonesia to join the Melanesian body in 2015.

    “We Melanesians have a moral obligation to support West Papua’s struggle in line with our forefathers’ call, including our founding prime minister, Father Walter Lini, Chief Bongmatur, and others,” he said.

    “Vanuatu has cut its canoe over 40 years ago and successfully sailed into the Ocean of Independence and in the same spirit, we must help our brothers and sisters in the United Liberation Movement of West Papua (ULMWP), to cut their canoe, raise the sail and also help them sail into the same future for the Promised Land.”

    This week’s failure of the Melanesian leadership to stand by the ULMWP is a travesty.

    The justification as outlined in the final communique – there was a silence on West Papua when the summit ended and a promised media conference never eventuated – is barely credible.

    The communique claimed that there was no consensus, the ULMWP “does not meet the existing” criteria for membership under the MSG agreement, and it also imposed a one-year membership moratorium, apparently closing the door on West Papuan future hopes.

    The Melanesian Spearhead Group pact signing in Port Vila yesterday
    The Melanesian Spearhead Group pact signing in Port Vila yesterday . . . prime ministers (from left) James Marape (PNG), Ishmael Kalsakau (Vanuatu), Sitiveni Rabuka (Fiji), Manasseh Sogavare (Solomon Islands), and pro-independence FLNKS spokesperson Victor Tutugoro (Kanaky New Caledonia). Image: Vanuatu Daily Post

    Shocking surrender
    This is a shocking surrender given that one of the existing and founding members is not an independent state, but a political movement – the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of Kanaky New Caledonia. Already a positive precedent for ULMWP.

    The FLNKS has long been a strong supporter of West Papuan self-determination and was represented at this week’s summit by former front president Victor Tutugoro.

    The other members are the host country Vanuatu (represented by Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau, now leader of a minority government after the Supreme Court ruling on Friday), Fiji (Sitiveni Rabuka, who made a public statement earlier in the year backing West Papuan leader Benny Wenda and the ULMWP), Papua New Guinea (Prime Minister James Marape), and Solomon Islands (Manasseh Sogavare).

    The tone was set at the MSG when the Indonesian delegation (the largest at the summit) walked out in protest when ULMWP president Benny Wenda addressed the plenary. An insult to the “Melanesian way”.

    Only a day earlier, Wenda had expressed his confidence that the MSG would admit ULMWP as full members. This followed a week of massive demonstrations in West Papua in support of MSG membership.

    Stressing West Papua’s vulnerability and constant history of human rights violations at the hands of Indonesian security forces, Wenda said: “This is the moment the entire world, all Melanesians, are watching. It’s a test for the leaders to see if they will stand up for West Papua in the eyes of the world.”

    Had he been lied to by MSG officials? What went wrong?

    United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim chair Benny Wenda being interviewed by Vanuatu Television
    United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) president Benny Wenda being interviewed by Vanuatu Television during MACFEST2023 . . . “The entire world, all Melanesians, are watching.” VBTC screenshot APR

    ‘Frustrating day’
    “It was a frustrating day since there was no press conference despite repeated promises and so far no official statement/communique,” leading Vanuatu-based photojournalist Ben Bohane said of the summit wrap. “Leaders took off and media feel like we were lied to.”

    Across the Pacific, many have reacted with shock and disbelief.

    “I am totally disappointed in the failure of the MSG leaders to seize the opportunity to redefine the future of West Papua and our region,” PNG’s National Capital District Governor Powes Parkop, long a staunch advocate for the West Papuans,” told Asia Pacific Report.

    “Fear of Indonesia and proactive lobbying by Indonesia again has been allowed to dominate Melanesia to the detriment of our people of West Papua.”

    Parkop said it was “obvious” that the MSG leaders were “not guided by any sound comprehensive policy” on West Papua.

    “The MSG Secretariat has failed to do a proper historical and social political analysis that can guide the MSG leadership,” he said.

    Parkop said this policy of appeasing Indonesia had not worked in the “last 50 to 60 years”.

    Port Moresby's Governor Powes Parkop
    Port Moresby’s Governor Powes Parkop with the West Papuan Morning Star flag … strong backing for West Papuan self-determination and independence. Image: Filbert Simeon

    ‘Affront to Melanesian leadership’
    “So banking on it again will not only condemn our people of West Papua to more hardship and suffering under the brutal Indonesian rule but is an affront to the leadership of Melanesia.

    “I will continue to advocate against Indonesian rule and the status quo unless we see real tangible changes in the rights and freedom of the West Papuan people.

    “Melanesia, as late Father Walter Lini eloquently stated in his prime, is not free while West Papua is not free.”

    Dan McGarry, investigations editor of the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, said: “Many people in Melanesia will see this as a betrayal. Public sentiment throughout the subregion runs strongly pro-independence for West Papua.

    “That said, the odds of consensus on this were vanishingly small. Indonesian and French lobbying in the lead up further reduced those odds.”

    Lewis Prai, a self-styled West Papuan diplomat and advocate, also condemned the MSG rejection blaming it on “throwing away moral values for the sake of Indonesia’s dirty money”.

    “We know that we are victims of Indonesian oppression and [of] the unwillingness of Melanesians to do the right thing and stand up for freedom, justice and morality.

    “And it is very unfortunate that this Melanesian organisation has been morally corrupted by one of the biggest human rights violators in Asia — and one of the worst in the world — Indonesia.

    “Thank you to the West Papua supporters in Vanuatu and the surrounding region. We will continue to speak. No amount of money will be able to silence our voices.”

    Dr David Robie, editor and publisher of Asia Pacific Report, has written on West Papuan affairs since the 1983 Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific (NFIP) conference in Port Vila and is author of Blood on their Banner: Nationalist Struggles of the South Pacific.

  • Melanesian leaders sign security and climate crisis declarations

    By Doddy Morris in Port Vila

    Melanesian prime ministers have have signed off two declarations addressing the pressing issues of climate crisis and national security.

    The ceremonial signing took place at the Havannah Resort in North Efate yesterday, marking the culmination of the 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Leaders’ Summit Retreat.

    The signatories included host Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau of Vanuatu, Manasseh Sogavare of Solomon Islands, James Marape of Papua New Guinea, Sitiveni Rabuka of Fiji and Victor Tutugoro, spokesperson of the Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) of Kanaky New Caledonia.

    The history of these agreements commenced with the inaugural accord inked in Lakatoro, Malekula, in 1994.

    Subsequent gatherings saw the signing of a second pact in Port Vila in 1998, followed by the third document signed during a Leaders’ Summit held in the Solomon Islands.

    Prime Minister Kalsakau expressed satisfaction with the summit’s proceedings, highlighting the successful collaboration that yielded two comprehensive documents. He noted that these papers were both “content-rich and orderly” in outlining MSG’s strategic course on matters of importance to the region’s people.

    Kalsakau acknowledged the impact of strong and visionary leadership, which served to refine the direction and purpose of Melanesia, ensuring it remained steadfastly on the right course.

    ‘Safeguarding’ Melanesia
    He said he was content with the summit’s conclusion, characterising it as a “joyous occasion”.

    “To ensure the safeguarding of Melanesia’s wellbeing and to achieve the highest levels of contentment among its people on the horizon, we have united as a collective whole,”  Kalsakau remarked.

    He expressed gratitude to his colleagues for their contributions in shaping the final outcomes.

    Concluding his address, Kalsakau invoked blessings upon the people of Melanesia and expressed his profound gratitude for the presence of all attendees.

    This unity and collaboration, he affirmed, was the cornerstone of progress for the entire region.

    The leaders shared in a tradition deeply rooted in Vanuatu culture — sharing a shell of kava to conclude the regional diplomatic dialogue.

    • Pacific Media Watch reports that there was no mention of West Papua or the long awaited full membership issues and a promised media conference had not eventuated.

    Doddy Morris is a Vanuatu Daily Post reporter. Republished with permission.

  • Benny Wenda says dream of MSG full membership ‘will happen’ in Port Vila

    By Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific journalist in Port Vila

    The leader of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda, has expressed confidence that the leaders’ meeting in Vanuatu will grant the ULMWP full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

    Wenda is in Port Vila for the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit, the first full in-person MSG Leaders’ Summit since 2018.

    “I’m really confident,” he said, adding “the whole world is watching and this is a test for the leaders to see whether they will save West Papua.”

    MSG chair and Vanuatu Prime Minister Alatoi Ishmael Kalsakau has confirmed the ULMWP’s application to become a full member will be a top priority for the leaders.

    Wenda told RNZ Pacific the West Papua liberation movement has been lobbying to be part of the MSG’s agenda for more than a decade, without success. The movement currently has observer status within the MSG.

    However, he believes this year they are finally getting their chance.

    Wenda said all branches of the ULMWP were in Port Vila, including the West Papua Council of Churches and tribal chiefs, and “we are looking forward to becoming a full member”.

    “That’s our dream, our desire. By blood, and by race, we’re entitled to become a full member,” he said.

    Indonesia, an MSG associate member, is also present, with the largest delegation of all countries in attendance at the meeting.

    Benny Wenda at the 22 Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders' Summit in Port Vila. 22 August 2023
    ULMWP leader Benny Wenda (left) with the ULMWP interim prime minister at the 22nd Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders’ Summit in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

    RNZ Pacific has been in contact with an Indonesian official for an interview in Port Vila.

    Benny Wenda said they were not asking for independence, but to become a full member of MSG.

    “We’ve been killed, we’ve been tortured, we’ve been imprisoned [by Indonesian security forces],” he said.

    Members of the Indonesian delegation at the Melanesian Leaders' Summit pre-meeting of the Foreign Ministers' in Port Vila. 21 August 2023
    Members of the Indonesian delegation at the Melanesian Leaders’ Summit pre-meeting of the Foreign Ministers in Port Vila this week. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

    ‘No hope’ in Indonesia
    “So, it’s live with Indonesia for 60 years and there is no hope. We’re not safe. That’s why it is time for the [Melanesian Leaders’ Summit] to make a right decision.”

    Wenda said it was “unusual” for Indonesia to bring “up to 15 people” as part of its delegation.

    Melanesian leaders, he said, were capable of dealing with their regional issues on their own.

    “Why are [Indonesia] here — [what] are they scared about,” he asked.

    “When we become full members we are ready to engage [with Indonesia] and find a solution, that is our aim. This is a part of a peaceful solution.”

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

    West Papuan rallies in support of membership
    Meanwhile, an ULMWP statement reports that thousands of POapuans held peaceful rallies throughout the territory of West Papua yesterday in support of the ULMWP application for full MSG membership.

    “This action was held in order to support the full membership agenda of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) in the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG),” the statement said.

    The rallies were held simultaneously in all the seven regions of the West Papua government.

    In the Lapago Region, thousands of Papuans took to the streets of Wamena City and gathered at the Sinapuk-Wamena field to deliver a statement.

    “The masses came down wearing various traditional clothes and dyed their bodies with the Morning Star flag pattern and the five permanent member flags of the MSG.

    “They also carried and waved a number of flags from the Melanesian member countries — Fiji, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, PNG and Kanaky (FLNKS), including the flag MSG flag.”

    Support rallies also took place in the Lapago region in several districts such as Puncak Jaya, Tolikara, Gunung Bintang and Lani Jaya regencies.

  • Senior MSG official calls for Melanesia to remain neutral in geopolitical battle

    By Kelvin Anthony, RNZ Pacific journalist in Port Vila

    The Melanesian Spearhead Group Secretariat’s Director-General, Leonard Louma, says the Pacific region continues to be the centre of geopolitical interests by global superpowers.

    The 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit is taking place in Port Vila this week– the first full in-person meeting since the covid pandemic.

    The prime ministers of Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and the president of the FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) of New Caledonia are confirmed to attend the leaders’ session on Wednesday.

    Louma said the battle for influence “impels the region to take sides, but it does not protect Melanesia and the region”.

    “There are some who would like us to believe that taking sides in that geopolitical posturing is in our best interest. May I hasten to add, I tend to defer — it is not in our best interest to take sides,” Louma said.

    Vanuatu's deputy prime minister Matai Seremaiah, left, and MSG director general Leonard Louma at the opening of the 22nd MSG Leaders's Summit Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Port Vila. 21 August 2023
    Vanuatu’s Deputy Prime Minister Matai Seremaiah (left) and MSG Director-General Leonard Louma at the opening of the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

    The director-general also took aim at MSG member countries for not moving with “urgency” on issues that have been on the Leaders’ Summit agenda.

    “Certain decisions also made by leaders and the foreign ministers of past continue to languish on the shelf and there seems to be no real sign of a desire to implement.”

    Free trade
    Louma said the MSG Free Trade Agreement had “somehow been tethered to other training and commercial arrangements”.

    “Our enthusiasm to cooperate appears to have waned. We need to rejuvenate this enthusiasm and appetite for industrial cooperation that once was the hallmark of MSG,” he said.

    Vanuatu’s Foreign Minister Matai Seremaiah has urged Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea to sign up to the trade agreement which has already been signed by Fiji and Solomon Islands.

    Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told RNZ Pacific he shared the concerns of his deputy on the issue of the free trade agreement.

    “Vanuatu must adhere quickly. If you look at the theme of the meeting it’s about being relevant and being relevant means that we’ve got got to participate as a core group so that we can advance all our interests together,” he said.

    Leonard Louma said the MSG needed to make concessions where it was needed in the interests of MSG cohesion.

    “The nuclear testing issue in the Pacific could not have proceeded the way we had proceeded without MSG taking a strong position on it.”

    Melanesian Spearhead Group flags
    The Melanesian Spearhead Group flags . . . will the Morning Star flag of West Papua be added? Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

    Declarations
    On Monday, MSG Secretariat officials said there were up to 10 issues on the agenda, including West Papua.

    In his opening statement at the Foreign Minister’s session on Monday, Seremaiah said there were two key draft declarations that would be put for the leaders’ consideration.

    The first one would be on climate action and “urging polluters not to discharge the treated water in the Pacific Ocean,” he said.

    “Until and unless the treated water is incontrovertibly proven to be safe to do so and seriously consider other options.”

    The second was a declaration on a MSG region of peace and neutrality, adding that “this declaration is aimed at advancing the implementation of the MSG security initiatives to address national security needs in the MSG region, through the Pacific way, talanoa or tok stori and binded by shared values and adherence to Melanesian vuvale, cultures and traditions”.

    West Papua
    This year’s agenda also includes the issue of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) application to become a full member of the sub-regional body.

    The movement is present at the meeting, as well as a big delegation from Indonesia, represented by its Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs.

    However, neither Seremaiah nor Louma made any mention of West Papua in their opening statements.

    West Papua observers and advocates at the meeting say the MSG is like a “custom haus or nakamal” for the Melanesian people.

    They say Vanuatu has the opportunity to make this more than a “normal MSG” if it can be the country that gets the MSG Leaders’ Summit to agree to make the ULMWP a full member.

    West Papua delegation at the 22nd MSG Leaders' Summit pre-meeting in Port Vila. 21 August 2023
    The West Papua delegation as observers at the 22nd MSG Leaders’ Summit pre-meeting in Port Vila yesterday. Image: RNZ Pacific/Kelvin Anthony

    This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

  • Wenda accuses Jakarta of crackdown in response to Papuan MSG rallies

    Asia Pacific Report

    Indonesia has stepped up its campaign of repression against West Papuans peacefully rallying for full membership of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG), says a Papuan advocacy leader.

    Benny Wenda, interim president of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), said a “massive military and police presence” greeted Papuans who had taken to the streets across West Papua calling for full membership.

    In Sorong, seven people were arrested — not while raising the banned Morning Star flags of independence and shouting Merdeka (“freedom”), but for holding homemade placards supporting full membership, according to Wenda.

    In Jayapura and Wamena, protesters were chased by security forces, beaten and dragged away into police cars, Wenda said in a statement.

    During a protest in Dogiyai, 20-year-old Yosia Keiya was alleged to have been summarily executed by Indonesian police on July 13 while he was peacefully sitting on the roadside.

    “Eyewitnesses reported seeing two police cars arrive in the vicinity and shoot Keiya without provocation,” Wenda said in the statement.

    “This crackdown follows the mass arrest of KNPB (West Papua National Committee) activists handing out leaflets supporting full MSG membership on July 12.

    ‘Ocean of violence’
    “But Keiya and those arrested are only the latest victims of Indonesia’s murderous occupation — single drops in an ocean of violence West Papuans have suffered since we rose up against colonial rule in 2019.”

    Both Indonesia and the ULMWP are members of the MSG – the former as an associate and the ULMWP as an observer.

    The full members are Fiji, FLNKS (New Caledonia’s Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front), Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.

    “Melanesian leaders must ask themselves: is this how one group member treats another? Is this how a friend to Melanesia treats Melanesians?” asked Wenda.

    “The fact that they brought an Indonesian flag to the Melanesian Arts Festival in Port Vila, only shortly after their soldiers shot Keiya dead, is an insult.

    “They’re dancing on top of our graves.”

    Wenda said West Papua was entitled to campaign for full membership by virtue of Melanesian ethnicity, culture, and linguistic traditions.

    “In all these respects, West Papua is undeniably Melanesian — not Indonesian,” he said.

    “While Indonesia won its independence in 1945, we celebrated our own independence on December 1, 1961. Our separateness was even acknowledged by Indonesia’s first Vice-President Mohammed Hatta, who argued for West Papuan self-determination on this basis.

    “More than anything, this crackdown shows how much West Papua needs full membership of the MSG.

    “Right now, we are defenseless in the face of such brutal violations; only as a full member will we be able to represent ourselves and expose Indonesia’s crimes.

    “West Papuans are telling the world they want full membership. By coming out onto the streets with their faces painted in the colours of all the Melanesian flags, they are saying, ‘ We want to return home to our Melanesian brothers and sisters, we want to be safe.’ It is time for Melanesian leaders to listen.”

    The MACFEST 2023 — the Melanesian Arts and Culture Festival — ends in Port Vila today.

    The MSG meeting to decide on full membership is due to be held soon although the dates have not yet been officially set.


    This content originally appeared on Asia Pacific Report and was authored by APR editor.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.