What Future for Papua?

The Helsinki agreement of 2005 marks the historic peace process for Indonesia’s west-ernmost province Aceh. After three decades of violence and repression, the long self-determination conflict is in the process of being resolved. Both the Free Aceh Move-ment and the Indonesian government have made substantial concessions for this to happen. However, for the second most burning and long lasting self-determination conflict, concerning Indonesia’s easternmost region Papua, formerly called Irian Jaya, such steps are nowhere near in sight. But they need to be undertaken, and soon, lest the volatile situation escalates and Papua sinks deeper into the downward spiral of violence and ‘counter-violence’. This paper will describe the developments in and concerning Papua over the course of the past eight years and will seek to explain key problems that need to be addressed in order to reach a sustainable resolution of the conflict. Indonesia’s reformasi in Papua During the first months after the fall of Suharto in May 1998, the spirit of the reform era or reformasi that had gripped the country could not at all be felt in its easternmost province. Its status as Military Operation Zone (Daerah Operasi Militer, DOM) remaine