Last week, some 100 mobile brigade personnel from North Maluku had been dispatched to Papua, and five more companies had been placed on standby, Deputy Chief of the North Maluku Police Senior Commissioner Lukas Akbar Abriari stated here on Saturday.
Abriari noted that the additional mobile brigade personnel would have been deployed if the National Police had officially instructed it, he noted, adding that the central government will solve the problems in Papua and West Papua.
Hence, he called on the people of North Maluku Province to not be misled by issues concerning the condition in Papua and West Papua.
On August 15, the East Nusa Tenggara provincial police had dispatched 100 members of its mobile brigade (Brimob) unit to Papua Province to assist in the law enforcement efforts against armed rebels.
The Brimob personnel will remain stationed in several sub-districts of this easternmost province until December 15, 2019.
Armed Papuan separatists have repeatedly launched deadly attacks and killings over the past years.
On August 12, First Brigadier Hedar was kidnapped and shot dead by an armed group in Usir Village, near Mudidok Village in Puncak District.
The circle of violence continued unabated in the aftermath of the Surabaya incident that had triggered public ire in the provinces of Papua and West Papua.
In the course of this past week, native Papuans in various parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua held demonstrations, protesting alleged racist slurs against Papuan students in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16.
On August 19, several thousand people in Manokwari, West Papua Province, and Jayapura, Papua Province, had protested to voice their discontent over alleged racist action against Papuan students in Surabaya and Malang, East Java.
During the rally in Manokwari, a local parliamentary building was set on fire. The demonstrators also torched tires in several parts of the city and main streets.
However, National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian stated that normalcy was restored in Manokwari. He also ordered the police chiefs of Papua and West Papua to adopt security measures and avoid the use of excessive force.
On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura, the capital city of Papua, again staged protests, expressing their ire over the alleged racist slurs against their Papuan compatriots in Surabaya, East Java, on August 16, but their rally took a violent turn.
The brutal demonstrators went on a rampage, vandalizing and setting ablaze several government buildings. The office of ANTARA, Indonesia's national news agency, in the city was also intentionally damaged by the demonstrators on Thursday.
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On August 28, a spate of violence also erupted in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura, resulting in the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.
In response to the Surabaya incident, on August 22, leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations held a meeting in Biak Numfor District. They deplored the incident that had triggered public ire, expressing their complete rejection of all forms of racism and intolerance against indigenous Papuans.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Abdul Fatah, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
