The church must defend West Papuans
Thomas Oswald on TV Libertés, 2021. In a broadcast on Radio Notre Dame on May 7, French journalist Thomas Oswald of ACN International described the tragedy befalling West Papuans in Indonesia as ethnic cleansing. Therefore, it is important for Pope Francis, who is scheduled to visit Indonesia in early September, to invite a West Papuan delegation represented by Mgr Yanuarius You, the first indigenous bishop of West Papua, in order to hear their aspirations firsthand. Six decades of Revendications For the majority of West Papuans, independence is the only solution to their survival. Since the early days of Indonesian annexation, West Papua's predominantly Christian Melanesians have understood that they have no future living with the Muslim-majority Malay people. General Bernard Mawen who waged a fifty-year guerrilla war against the Indonesian army and many other West Papuan resistance figures embody the strong determination of West Papuans to get their rights to freedom. The strugg
