Everyone profits from West Papua, except for Papuans

The death of a striking Papuan miner at the hands of Indonesian troops is the latest brutal colonial injustice inflicted on my people.

Benny Wenda

As a child growing up in the remote highlands of West Papua, we often heard stories from the elders about how our ancestors' spirits lived in the mountains and forests. How they would cry if they saw what is happening today. Illegal logging is rife, and the world's largest gold and copper mine, Freeport, has caused permanent environmental devastation to our sacred lands that is visible from space.

Earlier this week, Indonesian security forces opened fire on striking workers at the Freeport mine. It left one person dead and several others wounded, leading Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International's Asia Pacific director, to say that "Indonesian police have not learned how to deal with protesters without resorting to excessive, and even lethal, force". Rough justice is nothing new to my people. Journalists are not permitted entry to Papua but raw footage from Papuans' mobile phones regularly documents Papuans suffering brutality at the hands of Indonesian security services.

What caused the protests in recent days leading to the latest killing of my people? Local Papuan miners receive $1.50 per hour in wages. This from a company that is the largest single taxpayer to the Indonesian government, and for which profits are such that workers' strikes cost an estimated $30m in revenue per day.

You would think that being home to the world's largest goldmine and huge natural gas deposits, West Papua would be a land of riches. Yet we remain the poorest and least developed part of all Indonesia. There is a lack of basic healthcare, and literacy levels are lower than the national average.

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