"However, we cannot disclose their identities for their and their family members’ safety," Mimika Police Chief Adjunct Sen. Coms. IGG Era Adhinata, noted in a statement that ANTARA quoted here, Friday.
To make more members of armed Papuan groups willing to surrender and declare allegiance to the Motherland, he urges all societal elements at large to persuade them to do so.
Coaxing them into reuniting with families and to declare allegiance to Indonesia is a collective responsibility of security agencies, regional administrations, and other stakeholders of the nation, according to Adhinata.
Over the course of the past year, Adhinata pointed to a downward trend in the armed Papuan separatist terrorist groups operating in Mimika District's administrative areas.
Despite good news from Mimika District, Papua Province, over the past few years, armed Papuan groups have applied hit-and-run tactics against Indonesian security personnel and unleashed acts of terror against civilians in the districts of Intan Jaya, Nduga, and Puncak to instill fear among the people.
Construction workers, motorcycle taxi (ojek) drivers, teachers, students, street food vendors, and even civilian aircraft, among others, have been the recent targets of such acts.
On April 25, 2021, Papuan separatists, operating in Beoga, ambushed State Intelligence Agency (Papua) chief, Maj. Gen. I Gusti Putu Danny Karya Nugraha and several security personnel during their visit to Dambet Village.
Following Nugraha's fatal shooting, President Joko Widodo instructed the TNI and National Police to track down and arrest members of all separatist and terrorist groups operating in Papua, stressing there is no place for them within the Indonesian territory.
In response to the ongoing security disturbances, People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Bambang Soesatyo has warned that the state must not allow armed separatists to continue to terrorize communities in Papua.
It must ensure that the Papuans' rights to enjoy the outcomes of development programs in the country's easternmost province are not disrupted and hijacked by continued acts of terror, he stressed.
The State Constitution mandates that the government ensure Indonesian provinces, including Papua, are able to witness development to usher in prosperity for all people, Soesatyo noted in a recent statement.
However, ongoing security disturbances created by separatist terrorists are impeding the government's efforts to bring prosperity to all Papuans, he pointed out.
"It will not be easy to develop Papua if the armed Papuan terrorists' acts of terror against innocent civilians there intensify and escalate," he cautioned.
To defend the rights of Papuan people to enjoy the outcomes of development, the TNI and National Police personnel must remain present in Papua, Soesatyo emphasized.
The areas of Ilaga, Nduga, Kenyam, and Intan Jaya remain vulnerable due to the threat posed by separatist terrorists, he stated.
Related news: Five armed Papuan rebels surrender, swear allegiance to Indonesia
Related news: Indonesian police beef up security in Papua's Mimika District
EDITED BY INE
Translator: E Supar, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
