Article: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/feb/14/indonesian-separatists-release-video-of-nz-pilot-they-took-hostage
Earlier this month, a group of West Papuan separatists took a New Zealand pilot hostage. The pilot, Mark Mehrtens was a pilot for an Indonesian aviation company called Susi Air. When the plane landed in the remote Paro of the Nduga district, the plane was stormed by the West Papua National Liberation Army. Of the 6 onboard, the 5 passengers were released as they were ethnically Papuan. But the pilot was kept hostage. Sebby Sambom, the spokesperson for the rebel group, recently released photos and videos of the plane on fire. Egianous Kogoya, the leader of this specific group of rebels, claimed to take this pilot hostage in support of their independence efforts. Another video was released of a man, recognized as Mehrtens, saying, “Indonesia must recognize Papua is independent.” Mehrtens was surrounded by men with rifles in the video. Kogoya claims Mehrtens is safe as long as Indonesia doesn’t respond with force. The Indonesian Coordinating Minister for Political, Security and Legal Affairs, Mohammed Mahfud, has come out and both supported the Indonesian government’s view that Papua belongs to them, and has said that negotiations are underway. Mathius Fakhiri, the Papua police chief has said that local religious and community leaders are getting involved too in order to bring an end to this conflict. Conflict like this is very common in this region, as Papua came under Indonesian rule in 1969 after a controversial UN ballot.
I don’t think that any rebel group should be taking hostages, but obviously my opinion doesn’t change reality. I didn’t know that Papua and Indonesia were considered the same country, and that there has been such a long history of conflict. Its interesting. I don’t know how New Zealand reacted to this, I haven’t been able to find much on their viewpoint, but I’m assuming they’re involved considering the Indonesian government has come out and made statements, and since situations like these are a big deal. I’ll be interested to see how this plays out, and hoping for the pilot’s safety.
This article is related to class because both nations involved are within my assigned region.