PapuaAround.com – Government, Minister of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Hadi Tjahjanto held a Coordination Meeting to assess the current situation in Papua. The meeting took place at the Ministry of Political, Legal, and Security Affairs building in Central Jakarta on Friday, March 19, 2024.
The Secretary of the Ministry, Lieutenant General Teguh Pudji Rumekso, confirmed the meeting. He explained that it was convened to discuss various recent developments in Papua.`
“We discussed issues related to Papua during the meeting. Participants provided updates to the Minister,” Teguh said when contacted by Tempo on Saturday, April 20, 2024.
Teguh did not delve into specifics regarding the topics discussed during the closed-door meeting. However, he emphasized that the aim of the meeting was to ensure the security situation in Papua remained stable.
When asked about the possibility of new decisions to address the conflict in Papua, Teguh declined to comment in detail. He only mentioned that the meeting attendees discussed efforts that have been undertaken to address various issues in Papua.
“The gist is to maximize the effectiveness of existing programs,” Teguh stated.
The coordination meeting on the situation in Papua was also attended by several high-ranking officials of Indonesia’s government, including Minister of Communications and Information Technology Budi Arie Setiadi, National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo, Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Jhon Wempi Wetipo, Deputy Minister of Defense M. Herindra, Deputy Chief of the National Intelligence Agency (BIN) Lieutenant General I Nyoman Cantiasa, Chief of Strategic Intelligence Agency (Bais) Major General Yudi Abrimantyo, and Chief of Intelligence and Security Affairs (Baintelkam) of the Indonesian National Police Commissioner General Suntana.
Regarding the approach to armed groups in Papua, Chief of the TNI Information Center Major General Nugraha Gumilar previously emphasized that there had been no change in the TNI’s approach to armed groups in Papua, despite reverting the term “Armed Criminal Group” to “Free Papua Movement” (OPM).
According to Nugraha, the TNI and government continues to prioritize territorial operations by involving community participation in Papua’s development. However, he affirmed that the TNI would take decisive action in accordance with humanitarian law if the OPM carried out violent acts.
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Source: Tempo.