My Name is Refugee
by Ann-Maree McEwan
Picture – West Papuan campaigner Ronny Karemi with BMSRG Judy Lynch BMRSG Chairperson.
Community members, including BMRSG members, who attended a West Papua event today viewed two short films “My name is Refugee” and “Pepera 1969”. In between the films there were questions directed to Ronny Karemi who is a Canberra based West Papuan activist.
Many of us agreed that we have little knowledge of West Papua and it is rarely reported on in Australia. Many of us did not know about the flawed process that resulted in Indonesia being given control of West Papua in 1969 or the plight of internal refugees who have been displaced within West Papua due to violence and as a result face danger, fatal health implications and disrupted education and yearn to return home.
The event was co-hosted by BMRSG and the Blue Mountains Peace Collective.
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Great to see BMRSG involved in this event. The brutal colonisation of West Papua by Indonesia is an issue that is forgotten in the media and we should be raising our voices in support of our near neighbours highlighting their desperate plight and the need to free West Papua.