MSG Rejects West Papuan Separatists

MSG Rejects West Papuan Separatists

The separatist group United Liberation Movement for West Papua (United Liberation Movement for West Papua / ulmwp) failed to become a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
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MSG member countries at the MSG summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands on July 14 rejected ULMWP's request to become a full member of the subregional organization, according to a statement from the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs received in Jakarta on Thursday (7/14).
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The Indonesian government welcomed the decision of the MSG member countries. From the start, the Government of Indonesia strongly opposed the ULMWP separatist group joining the MSG meetings.
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"There is no place for ULMWP in the future of the MSG," said Director General of the Asia Pacific and Africa Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia Desra Percaya in response to the failure of the ULMWP to become a full member of the MSG at the MSG Special Summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands.
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He said the results were not in line with the hopes of the Papuan ULMWP separatist movement who believed they would be accepted as full members at the MSG Special Summit in Honiara.
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According to Desra, the active participation and intensive lobbying of the Indonesian Delegation which also consisted of representatives of five Indonesian provinces of Melanesian culture, namely North Maluku, Maluku, East Nusa Tenggara, Papua, West Papua had succeeded in convincing the leaders of MSG member countries not to accept applications for ULMWP membership.
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In addition, the MSG Summit also agreed to further discuss the organization's membership guidelines, which will be completed in September 2016 in Port Vila, Vanuatu.
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"Surely this is done by respecting the principles of international law governing relations between countries, especially respect for sovereignty, non-intervention in the internal affairs of other countries as stipulated in the MSG Establishment Agreement," Desra said.
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Furthermore, Ambassador Desra as the head of the Indonesian delegation also emphasized Indonesia's commitment to encourage and make the MSG a progressive organization through real development cooperation and constructive dialogue in achieving common goals. He also conveyed the invitation of the Government of Indonesia to MSG member countries to participate in the Bali Democracy Forum on 8-9 December 2016.
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The MSG is a Melanesian subregional cooperation organization that aims to promote and strengthen trade relations between members, Melanesian cultural exchanges, and technical cooperation to achieve economic growth, sustainable development, good governance, and security.
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Indonesia became a member of the MSG association at the 20th MSG Summit in Honiara, Solomon Islands in 2015, having previously been actively involved as an observer. Indonesia is currently considering positively to become a full member of the MSG.