The Indonesian Diplomacy to Manage Global Support on Papua

Abstract

Indonesia has a long history of diplomacy to protect national sovereignty and regional integrity against separatist movements. The Indonesian negotiation to resolve the conflict in Aceh and East Timor marked by peace agreements that end the conflicts for good. However, the issue in Papua remained unresolved and became a diplomatic problem until now. The result of the 1969 referendum (Pepera), which stated that if the majority of Papuan chose to be part of Indonesia, the demand for independence still challenged Indonesia. The demand for independence was led by the Free Papua Movement (OPM). The OPM’s diplomatic factions actively voice their causes at international level to maintain the global awareness of unresolved issues. This paper analyses Indonesia’s diplomacy to resolve separatist issue of Papua. The objective of Indonesia’s diplomacy at bilateral, regional and multilateral level is to strengthen the support of the international community that Papua is legally part of Indonesia. Indonesia’s diplomacy also aims to weaken claims of the OPM on the accusation of the violations of human rights as conducted by the military and security apparatuses in the province. The research would be beneficial in both theoretical and practical purposes. Theoretically, it will develop understanding on the diplomacy as specific study in international relations, especially related to public, economic, and preventive measures. In practical matter, the study could be used in implementing foreign policies especially in the context of conflict resolution.