ULMWP on the Kanaky independence movement

ULMWP leaders: Rex Rumakiek, Octo Mote, Paula Makabory and Markus Haluk, with FLNKS leaders including its spokesperson Victor Tutugoro (white hat), Port Moresby, PNG, 2018.

In Pacific Melanesia, three nations are still fighting for independence: Kanaky (New Caledonia), Bougainville and West Papua. 

Faced with this situation, what is the ULMWP's response? Especially with regards to Kanaky, which is currently making headlines in the international media?

Markus Haluk, secretary of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) emphasizes that:

• The Kanak people have the right to independence and sovereignty over their ancestral lands. It has long been registered with the UN Decolonization Commission.
• In terms of readiness, both the human and natural resources of Kanaky fulfill the requirements of an independent state.
• The majority of Kanaky natives voted for independence. This was seen during the two referendums that have been run. The last one in 2018 was attended by ULMWP represented by Markus Haluk as an observer. 

If the decolonization of Kanaky has stalled to this day, it is because one of the three provinces, the Southern Province, is densely populated by Europeans and Asians who had settled before 1996. This latter group has the same voting rights as the indigenous Kanaky population according to an agreement between the Kanaky Liberation Front (FLNKS) and the French government.

ULMWP emphasizes importance of solidarity with Kanaky, given that :

• West Papuan and Kanaky freedom fighters  have long sympathized and supported each other.
• Not only at the leadership level, but also the Kanaky grassroots community has long formed Kanaky Solidarity for an Independent West Papuan state.
• West Papua was able to attend for the first time the South Pacific forum of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) in New Caledonia thanks to the invitation of FLNKS/Kanaky leaders in July 2013.
• Kanaky leaders have always shown massive support for West Papua. Their delegations attend in large numbers at every invitation, more than 10 people. This was evident at the December 2014 West Papua Summit in Vanuatu.
• Through the encouragement of the Kanaky leaders, for the first time in June 2013, MSG leaders expressed their support for the Right to Self-Determination for West Papua, alongside their concern for the deteriorating human rights situation in the region. They also called on the MSG to send a delegation of Foreign Ministers to West Papua in January 2014. (Unfortunately, when the delegation arrived in Jayapura, West Papuan activists including Markus Haluk who were to receive them were arrested by local Indonesian police.)

Obviously, in the MSG forum, the FLNKS leaders have been the most vocal and consistent in supporting ULMWP full membership in the MSG.

Returning to the civil unrest in New Caledonia, ULMWP regrets the French government's reckless attitude in pushing a bill that increases the electoral corps for French settlers who have lived in Kanaky for just 10 years.

This bill is a direct affront to the long struggle of the Kanaky people. The problem lies in the French Government. It seems that this was intentional on the part of French colonial politics.

With that, ULMWP proposes to the French government to:

• Abandon the draft law which was the forerunner of the current problems
• Carry out negotiations for independence and handover of Kanaky sovereignty.
• Fully believe that Kanaky people and leaders are capable of legal, economic, and political governance.

On behalf of the West Papuans, ULMWP conveys the following message to the Kanaky nation:

We remain in solidarity and are part of the Kanaky People's struggle, especially in the current situation. We, the people of West Papua, fully support all your efforts. You are not alone. We are with you!

The Kanaky people must remain optimistic: what you have been fighting for for decades will bear fruit. Kanaky people and their leaders must trust each other, be allies, and protect each other. Talk peacefully and negotiate to create the desired Kanaky society through the FLNKS platform.

ULMWP hopes that the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron in New Caledonia will be a golden opportunity to meet and listen directly to the voices of the Kanaky people represented by FLNKS.