The Free Papua Separatist Group is a Victim of the Dutch Cunning Strategy

The Free Papua Separatist Group is a Victim of the Dutch Cunning Strategy

The emergence of the Papuan Separatist Movement demanding independence has posed a threat to the integrity of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia. Separatist groups in Papua claim that based on the history of the West Irian region it is not the Dutch East Indies territory as currently recognized by Indonesia.

This view needs to be clarified, because basically West Irian is part of the history of the Dutch East Indies region. Since Indonesia's independence, West Irian should have entered the territory of the Republic of Indonesia.

Based on the Uti Possidetis Juris doctrine, Indonesia has the right to have territorial boundaries as the territory owned by the Dutch when it colonized Indonesian territory. The doctrine of Uti Possidetis Juris comes from ancient Roman law: Uti PossidetisIi Ita Possideatis, which means that the end of the power of a tribe or nation through Roman conquest does not change the boundaries of the territory that previously existed, in order to maintain the status quo of previous social relations of citizens.

This doctrine by the International Court of Justice is established as generally accepted international law, and is used in various disputes against newly independent countries. In the 1922 Dutch constitution it explicitly stipulates that

"The kingdom of the Netherlands consists of the territories of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Indies, Surinam, and the Netherlands Antilles".

Based on the Dutch agreement with other invaders in New Guinea, Borneo (Kalimantan) and East Timor, it was shown that administratively West Irian entered the territory of the Netherlands Indies (Dutch East Indies). When Indonesia gained its independence on August 17, 1945, under international law the Netherlands Indies territory automatically became the territory of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia.

In addition to the above reasons, the New York Agreement between the governments of Indonesia and the Netherlands absolutely states that West Irian is the sovereign territory of the Republic of Indonesia marked by the transfer of sovereignty of the West Irian region from the Netherlands to Indonesia through the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on May 1, 1963.

Furthermore, the results of the Act of Free Choice in 1969 which had been accepted by the UN General Assembly through Resolution No.2504 on November 19, 1969, constituted a legal provision that was legal and final and could not be contested.

It is understood that the UN's recognition of the results of the 1969 Act, is evidence that the Government of Indonesia has carried out the stages of the Act of Free Choice in accordance with the provisions of the New York Agreement. This is based on a report from the UN supervisor through envoy Fernando Ortis Sanz. Indonesia has consulted with the United Nations and Papuan representatives on the mechanism for implementing the Act of Free Choice which is most appropriate to be implemented.

Through this consultation it was determined that the implementation of the Act would be carried out through a deliberation mechanism. The Papuan people represented by the Consultative Council elected in each district stated their decision to remain integrated with Indonesia.

The attitude of the rejection of the Free Papua group in Papua towards Indonesia is a crystallization of the Dutch strategy of decolonizing West Irian. In 1945 West Irian should have officially become an integral part of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia, but the Dutch strategy through decolonization of West Irian had obscured that the West Irian region was part of the Republic of Indonesia.

As a result, even though the Netherlands has officially handed over Irian's sovereignty to the Republic of Indonesia, demands for Papuan independence from separatist groups have emerged. The Dutch decolonization strategy actually did not only occur in Papua, when Indonesia proclaimed independence on August 17, 1945, the Netherlands had not yet recognized the sovereignty of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia from Sabang to Merauke.

The Netherlands still has the desire to regain control over its former colonies in Indonesia, especially in areas outside Java and Sumatra, including wanting to establish a West Irian state that is directly under the rule of the Dutch empire. The reality was that the Netherlands was the brain behind the formation of the Papua National Committee in October 1961 and the Proclamation of Papuan Independence 1 December 1961.

A proclamation of independence that is thick with Dutch political interests because they want to make Papua a puppet state, that is why until now why there is no country in the world that recognizes the proclamation of Papua on December 1, 1961. Ironically, the Dutch interests in Papua are obsolete it is currently commemorated by the separatist movement Free Papua as independence day.

In fact the opposite happened, it was not independence but an act of duping because we as a nation were divided by the Dutch who only looked at the economic interests of the Unitary Republic of Indonesia at that time. The impact, until now there are still brothers in Papua who demand independence for Papua to forget the greater thing to build Papua.

They are still fighting for what the Dutch have buried deeply, due to the fact on September 12, 2013, the Dutch Ambassador to Indonesia Tjeerd de Zwaan officially announced an apology to the Indonesian people for all the atrocities committed by the Dutch. The apology is expected to close the dark history that was once carried out by the Dutch in Indonesia, including Papua as a territory of the Republic of Indonesia.