what you can do

There are many ways that each of us can contribute to and support the struggle for peace and justice in West Papua. Outlined here are some ways we can learn, act and support.

Learn

• Subscribe to Progressio's e-mail newsletter for regular updates on the situation in Papua and Progressio's work in West Papua and elsewhere
• Sign up to electronic newsgroups on West Papua such as http://www.kabar-irian.com/ or http://lists.topica.com/lists/WestPapua/
• Visit related websites
• Read up on the situation in West Papua. A good starting point would be to download the Progressio Comment - West Papua: The struggle for peace with justice (760k PDF).

Act

Write to your government and MP or elected representative

Express your concerns over injustice and human rights violations in West Papua. Here are some questions you could raise:

1. Ask your government what it is doing in terms of raising human rights cases and issues with the Indonesian government.
2. Citizens of the UK could raise the question of investments in West Papua by British companies. Ask what the government is doing to ensure that local people, and their rights and livelihoods, are not threatened in any way by the side-effects of mining for oil and gas by British companies.
3. Citizens of EU member states could ask what action their government is taking in its dialogue with the government of Indonesia, since it was party to the EU statement calling upon Indonesia to honour the Special Autonomy law.

British citizens can find details of local MPs at www.locata.co.uk/commons.

Details of members of the European Parliament can be found at the European Parliament website

Letters to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office can be addressed to:
Douglas Alexander MP, Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Downing Street, London SW1A 2AH.

Contact BP (British Petroleum) 

Ask about what action it is taking to ensure that its liquefied natural gas project in West Papua does not impact negatively on the local community, the environment and the socio-economic welfare of Papuans. In particular, you could inquire about its plans for security arrangements at its Tangguh project. Ask whether these security arrangements will be civilian or military (in other words, is it making a deal with the Indonesian military to provide security at its project sites?). Ask how it plans to guarantee security measures do not result in human rights violations among local communities. Find contact details for BP.

Join a group

If you are Catholic and live in the UK, become involved in the National Justice and Peace Network. See http://www.justice-and-peace.org.uk/ for more details. UK residents can visit the UK West Papua Association website at www.westpapua.org/wpauk.html for information about West Papua support groups and NGOs. There are many local Amnesty International groups all over the world which take action on human rights concerns. Send an e-mail to activism@amnesty.org.uk to find out about the group nearest you.

Encourage a group you already participate in to take up the West Papua issue. Make a special show of solidarity for the people in West Papua.

Start a group

Encourage others in your school, neighbourhood, workplace, religious organisation or elsewhere to learn about the situation in West Papua. You could write letters to lobby parliamentarians, raise funds to support the work of Papuan organisations, or find other ways to show solidarity and support for the people of West Papua.

For more information about West Papua please contact Alison Ryan on tel: 020 7354 0883 or by email at alison@progressio.org.uk