| Home > South-East Asia >> West Papua | |
Maori students in NZ march for West Papua
Radio New Zealand International - August 25, 2016
The march was met at the steps of parliament by MPs from various political parties, who spoke of their concern about Indonesian state oppression in the Papua region.
The students gathered in the capital for the annual conference Te Huinga Tauira o Te Mana Akonga, this year hosted by Ngai Tauira, the Maori Students' Association at Victoria University of Wellington.
A co-president of Ngai Tauira, Raimona Tapiata, said the hundreds gathered felt strongly about the plight of West Papuans, from which they drew many parallels with how Maori experienced colonialism.
He said for instance Maori can relate to the marginalisation of West Papuans' indgenous language under Indonesian rule.
"Especially having come from similar backgrounds, similar cultural beliefs, similar values and what our culture is all about, all those types of connections between all Pacific nations is another element that comes into play," he said.
Addressing the crowd, the MP Marama Davidson said West Papuans' struggle was their struggle.
"We are standing up for up for the people of West Papua, we are standing their mana whenua. We are standing up for their tino rangatiratanga," she said.
"But we're also standing up for all of us and the better world we are trying to create by supporting each other, because the oppression, the colonisation, the abuse of human rights, it all breathes the same oxygen."
Source: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/311832/maori-students-in-nz-march-for-west-papua.
See also:
 |
West Papua West Papua Links Statements and Press Releases on West Papua Indoleft Archive Indonesia links Indonesia News Digest News services on Indonesia Publications & videos on Indonesia Reports & articles on Indonesia Statements & press releases on Indonesia