Separatists in Papua reject surrender, demand referendum

JAKARTA: Separatist rebels in Indonesia’s Papua province who killed a group of workers building a bridge this month have rejected government calls to surrender and instead demanded a referendum to decide the future of the area.

Security forces have launched an operation to hunt down members of the military wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM), which claimed responsibility for killing at least 16 workers and a soldier in the mountainous Nduga area.

The OPM has said it viewed the men as members of the military and casualties in a war against Indonesia’s government.

Indonesian officials said the workers were civilians.

Papua, the resource- rich western part New Guinea island, has been plagued by a violent separatist conflict since the former Dutch colony was incorporated into Indonesia after a widely criticised UN-backed referendum in 1969.

In a video posted on YouTube on Monday, OPM spokesman Sebby Sambom read an open letter to President Joko Widodo in which he dismissed calls on their military wing, known as the West Papua National Liberation Army ( TPNPB), to surrender and start dialogue.

Standing behind the banned separatist Morning Star flag, Sambom demanded Widodo hold another referendum for native Papuans to decide whether they want to be integrated with Indonesia.