SUMMARY
The territory of West Papua was a Dutch colony until 1962 when it was handed over to the UN and subsequently to Indonesia. The handover to Indonesia was made on the condition that a referendum would later let the Papuans decide whether they wanted independence or to remain as a part of Indonesia. The plebiscite held in 1969 was everything but democratic and the result, that Papua remained Indonesian, caused the escalation of a popularly supported independence movement, headed by the OPM (Organisasi Papua merdeka, Organization for a Free Papua). Guerrilla activities in the 1970s led to major Indonesian army operations in 1977-78. In 1978 the Papuans set up a government in exile.
2025
Violence in the West Papua conflict increased during 2025, with clashes between the Indonesian government and OPM resulting in almost double the fatalities as the previous year. The events recorded remain localized to West Papua exclusively, with the largest share of events recorded in the Papua Pegunungan province (Highland Papua) and the Papua Tengah province (Central Papua). The type of violence is somewhat varied. Shootings are frequent, with several events having one to two fatalities either among OPM or Indonesian military personnel. Some events were more deadly, such as the attack on a gold mine in Highland Papua which was the deadliest attack carried out by OPM in years as 15 fatalities were recorded.
IN DEPTH
The Dutch Decolonisation and the “Act of Free Choice”
The island of New Guinea is the second largest island in the world. The western part of the island, the territory of West Papua (also known as Irian Jaya, Papua, West New Guinea, Netherlands New Guinea and West Irian) was part of the Dutch East Indies and remained under Dutch control when the rest of the territory acquired independence and became Indonesia in 1949. The Netherlands opposed the inclusion of the territory into independent Indonesia due to the belief that the area was rich in raw materials. It was also an effort to placate the internal Dutch opposition to the granting of independence to Indonesia and to keep an area as a potential site for resettlement of Dutch former colonial administrators. Indonesia, aiming at the inclusion of West Papua into Indonesia, mounted some minor military operations but these proved ineffective.
The Netherlands, facing international pressure to decolonise, finally had to recede from the territory in 1962. West Papua was then handed over to the UN. The UN in its turn handed the territory over to Indonesia in 1963 under the agreement that a plebiscite would be organised in which the Papuan people would decide on the future status of the area. When the plebiscite was held in 1969 under the name “the Act of Free Choice”, it was recognised as a sham and by Papuans referred to as “the Act of No Choice”. A sample of 1025 tribal leaders was collected, bribed and threatened into voting pro-Indonesia, and was then claimed to represent the opinion of the Papuan people. Those who protested were imprisoned.
The OPM; a Small but Persistent and Popular Guerrilla
The OPM (Free Papua Movement) and its armed wing the TPN/PB (National Liberation Army, Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat) were formed in 1965 in Manokwari. Initially, the movement was small and rather isolated, but the Indonesian policy of “Indonesianisation” and the poll of 1969 proved counter-productive and resulted in steadily increasing popular support for the OPM. The Indonesian policy included a programme of resettlement, the shifting of people from the more densely populated areas of Java and Bali into West Papua. This was much to the dislike of the local population who culturally had nothing in common with the rest of the Indonesians. In 1975, the eastern part of the island of New Guinea gained independence from Australia and became the state of Papua New Guinea. This development worried the Indonesian government and led it to instigate an ambitious programme of development for West Papua including heavy venturing on the extraction of natural resources. However, the development never came to benefit the local population and increased the social and political tensions between them and the immigrated groups.
Groups of OPM fighters continued to launch small-scale attacks on Indonesian troops and on certain industries. During their retaliation offensives, the Indonesian forces made little or no distinction between guerrillas and civilians. The guerrillas never engaged in large-scale attacks and never presented a united front. They were believed to consist of a small number of commands that, most of the time, worked independently of each other and were mainly armed with traditional bows and spears. The guerrilla has never been strong enough to pose a major threat to the Indonesian army but its role has increasingly become a strong symbolic such. Guerrilla activities in the 1970s led to major Indonesian army operations in 1977-78. In 1978 the Papuans set up a government in exile.
As Suharto was forced to resign from the Indonesian presidency in 1998, the independence movement in Papua increased its activities. In an attempt to defuse the situation, the province was accorded greater autonomy in 2001. The autonomy was however poorly implemented and was not enough for the Papuans. Sporadic acts of violence continued. In 2005 Indonesia increased its military presence and in 2006 the tension in the area augmented when several police and demonstrators were killed during protests against a mining company.
Since 2009, there have been sporadic attacks on military and police, attributed to the OPM. In addition there have been attacks by both the government and the OPM against civilians. In 2018, the territorial conflict crossed the 25 fatality threshold for the first time in the new millennium. Since then, violence has continued, and 2021 was the most fatal year of this conflict recorded in the UCDP data. Following the killing of an Indonesian regional intelligence chief in late April 2021, violence escalated as the President ordered the security forces to chase and arrest all OPM rebels.
In 2022, violence in the conflict continued, with clashes between the Government of Indonesia and OPM again occurring exclusively in the West Papua regencies. During the fall, negotiations were held between the Indonesian Government and West Papuan civil society organizations and religious associations. They reached an agreement, which mainly included a six month humanitarian pause in fighting, and humanitarian corridors. However, OPM was not involved in negotiations, and their main military faction, TPNPB, has rejected the agreement. By 2023, the conflict was recorded at its most deadly, with a significant amount of civilian casualties. 2024 saw roughly the same level of violence, but 2025 saw a significant increase with almost double the fatalities compared to the previous year. The increase can be attributed to the occurrence of a few more deadly events, such as the attack on a gold mine in Highland Papua which was the deadliest attack carried out by OPM in years as 15 fatalities were recorded. OPM claimed that the miners were soldiers under disguise, but other sources stated them as civilians. Advances from the Indonesian government also led to events with higher fatalities, such as the reclaiming of Soanggama village which had previously been under OPM control. This resulted in 14 confirmed fatalities.
International involvement
Throughout the conflict, the neighboring country of Papua New Guinea has been used by OPM rebels as a basis for military actions. This has led to repeated border violations by the Indonesian forces as they have claimed to pursue rebels in Papua New Guinea. The result has been several official complaints by the Government of Papua New Guinea. There have also been large movements of cross-border refugee-streams from West Papua into Papua New Guinea. The majority of the population of Papua New Guinea is supportive of the OPM, however the government has wished to avoid a military confrontation with Indonesia and has remained discreet in its contacts with Indonesia. Several leaders of the OPM have taken refuge in Papua New Guinea and most have there been assisted in finding a third country in which they have been granted political asylum.
The shortcomings of the 1969 plebiscite have been unofficially acknowledged by UN officials; however the only foreign governments officially supporting the claim for Papuan independence are the Pacific island nations of Vanuatu, Nauru and Tuvalu.
