Today, to fulfill the national police chief's order, we again dispatch 100 additional members of our mobile brigade unit to PapuaJambi (ANTARA) - The Jambi provincial police stationed 350 mobile brigade (Brimob) personnel to help the law enforcement mission in Papua in the aftermath of rioting that broke out in Indonesia's easternmost province on August 29.
"Today, to fulfill the national police chief's order, we again dispatch 100 additional members of our mobile brigade unit to Papua," Jambi Provincial Police Chief Inspector General Muchlis A.S. informed journalists after leading a roll-call here on Thursday.
On August 30, the Jambi provincial police had deployed 250 Brimob personnel to Papua to offer back-up to the riot-struck province's police to restore law and order. They were stationed in Sector III of the Abepura area, Jayapura City, he stated.
Muchlis remarked that deployment in Papua was nothing short of a noble mission, adding that all Brimob personnel of the Jambi provincial police were instructed to continue to coordinate with related authorities and respect local cultures and wisdom.
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A spate of violence erupted in several parts of Papua and West Papua in the upshot of the Surabaya incident that fueled public angst among native Papuans.
Over the past week, native Papuans in several parts of the provinces of Papua and West Papua rallied to protest alleged racist slurs against the 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 behavior against Papuan students in Surabaya and Malang, East Java.
During the rally in Manokwari, a local parliamentary building was set ablaze. The demonstrators also set fire to tires in several parts of the city and main streets.
On August 29, the indigenous Papuan residents of Jayapura, the capital city of Papua, again held protests, pouring out their anger over the Surabaya incident, but their rally then turned violent.
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 August 28, a circle of violence also erupted in Deiyai District, some 500 kilometers away from Jayapura. It ended with the deaths of an army soldier and two civilians.
As a reaction to the Surabaya incident, on August 22, leaders of several ethnic community-based organizations held a meeting in Biak Numfor District. They strongly rejected 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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Translator: Nanang M, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2019
