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Fighting reported at border between PNG and Indonesia
PNG Post-Courier - January 16, 2013
Reports reaching the Post-Courier say villagers from Wutung in PNG's West Sepik Province tried to forcefully lower the Indonesia flag at the popular Bartas market, but were stopped by armed Indonesian soldiers.
The same group then proceeded to the mouth of Taimi River, where a lighthouse was constructed on the Indonesia side of the border and tried to burn it down, but they were also stopped by the armed Indonesian soldiers.
The burning of a sovereign nation's flag is an offence in some countries and the Wutung villagers were nearly shot at, however Indonesian soldiers recognized them as traditional landowners and restrained them.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) in Waigani was unable to comment on the incident and a telephone message left for the department's acting Secretary Lucy Bogari to call us was not returned.
But the Indonesian Embassy in Port Moresby has confirmed it is aware of the situation but will not comment further as the incident is currently been investigated by their government.
A police officer at the Vanimo Police Station confirmed the incident at the international border and added that Government authorities were monitoring and trying to stabilize the situation.
It is not known what triggered the incident but a Wutung villager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said her people have had issues with the current location of the border. Most of the villagers' land, which includes their gardens and hunting grounds, is allegedly on the Indonesian side of the border.
"Bartas (market) is on our traditional land but we don't benefit from all the business activities that take place there but the Indonesians do," she said.
The villager added that the area from the Bartas Trading Post to Taimi River is all Wutung land. The traditional boundary with the Indonesian villages of Skow One, Skow Two and Skow Three is the Taimi River.
"The Skows are traditionally our people, we speak the same language and have the same culture but they are Indonesians and we are Papua New Guineans," she said.
She said the border check point was previously at Taimi River but was moved further into PNG's side of the border when Bartas was built.
"That is an issue that the PNG Government needs to seriously resolve for their good and everyone. The border needs to be pushed back to Taimi River," she added.
A ban allegedly imposed by Indonesia on traditional border-crossers also appears to be a contributing factor as the villagers complained that they could not go to their gardens. "Now only PNG-Indonesian passport holders are crossing the no man's land but not the traditional border crossers. But we need to move freely to our gardens and we cannot be restricted," said one villager, who did not want to be identified.
The location of the Bartas market, which hundreds of Papua New Guineans frequent every year, also appears to be a point of contention. According to international law the 10-kilometer buffer zone between the Indonesian and PNG border should be free of infrastructure. However, observers have noted that the Indonesian border post and the Bartas market were built within the buffer zone.
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