Rallies were held on December 1 in several locations in West Papua to call for independence for the western half of the island of New Guinea, which is today ruled by Indonesia. Forty-seven years ago to the day, the Netherlands recognized the right of its former colony to self-government.

Pro-independence rallies took place in Manokwari and Jayapura, the capitals of the two separatist provinces (West Papua and Papua, respectively), and also in the town of Nabire. The protests were attended by thousands of supporters calling for self-determination and control of natural resources. A rally was also held in Jakarta, the Indonesian capital.

Protestors flew the flag of the Papuan nationalist movement, the Morning Star, defying Indonesia laws, which prohibits the separatist symbol under prison sentence. Policemen had confiscated a number of flags in the run-up to the rallies.

The Straits Times quotes the leader of the pro-independence Papua Presidium Council as describing Papua as "a land of threats... we are poor and suffering on top of a land of wealth." "We firmly reject investment and exploitation of natural and human resources in Papua that doesn't guarantee the right of life and the entire ecosystem," he went on to say.

In 1963, just two years after West Papua's independence from the Netherlands, Jakarta claimed the territory as its own and in 1969 West Papua was formally annexed after a referendum which was condemned across the country. After decades of lack of investment in the region, a slow process of decentralization began in 1998. Indonesia's plans to split the territory into three provinces caused controversy and for the time being only two have been created, the province of West Papua in the far north-west of the island and the province of Papua which makes up the rest of Indonesian-ruled territory on the island and shares a border with the independent state of Papua New Guinea.

Further information:

• Reuters: Papuans rally for independence from Indonesia
• The Straits Times: Rally for independence
• The Jakarta Post: Thousands rally, some fly flag for independence in Papua
• Radio New Zealand International: Separatists in Indonesia province of Papua warned against raising Morning Star flaf