students

Papuan students tell of violence

Submitted by rains on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 19:07
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KERRY O'BRIEN, PRESENTER: Proposed new laws intended to deter asylum seekers from the troubled Indonesian province of Papua are already being tested. The new laws would see asylum seekers who arrive by boat, processed offshore and resettled in another country if they are found to be refugees. The tough new policy was announced after 42 Papuans were given temporary protection visas after arriving here in January, a decision which, you'll recall, enraged the Indonesian Government.

Papuans pressing hard for self rule

Submitted by FdN on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 08:39
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DEMONSTRATORS rallied in Jayapura yesterday demanding that recently elected president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono allow international negotiators to end the decades-long conflict in Papua.
The protest by up to 500 students came as church leaders and civil groups began lobbying Mr Yudhoyono for Papuan self rule in Indonesia's easternmost province. Many Papuans, who voted overwhelmingly for Mr Yudhoyono in the September elections, are hopeful he will finally implement a progressive autonomy law.