CHAPTER 29

Consultations with neighbouring churches

Synod meeting at Manokwari Ñ July 1984

In July 1984 I went for the ACC (Australian Council of Churches) to a Synod meeting of the Protestant Church of Irian Jaya (GKI.Ir.Ja). Tension between the West Papuans and the Indonesian military had increased considerably since the beginning of that year. Over 10,000 refugees had fled across the border to Papua New Guinea. Arnold Ap, a prominent church leader, anthropologist and folk musician was killed by Indonesian security forces in May 1984. The world media had become interested in this conflict. The ABC screened a Four Corner's programme on James Nyaro, the leader of the Operasi Papua Merdeka (OPM Ñ Free Papua Movement) after Ap's death. It was difficult then to get a visa for Irian Jaya, but mine was approved at the last minute. The situation was tense. Papua New Guinea didn't want the refugees, but could not send them back for fear of a global outcry. The ACC felt it was important to stand by the GKI in its current struggle. As I spoke Indonesian, the ACC expected me to report back on the true situation in Irian Jaya, rather than having to rely on a possibly biased report from an Indonesian source.

The indigenous population of Irian Jaya is of Melanesian descent. Because of geographic isolation, individual tribes had developed their own languages, often completely different from one another. The highlands in the inland were the most densely populated areas. Some of the hill tribes had first come into contact with the outside world as recently as about 50 years ago. Their culture was diverse and uncoordinated, going back over many centuries. The common language linking all the different tribes together had been for a long time Indonesian, long before it became the adopted language of Indonesia. Since Irian Jaya was annexed by Indonesia in 1967, the population had become more conscious of their ethnic difference from the rest of the Indonesian people. It wasn't just the colour of their skin, but their different culture and their affinity to the land, which set them apart from

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