The West Papua Action Ōtepoti group will host a documentary film screening next week in a bid to highlight the plight of indigenous West Papuans and their fight for independence.
The screening, to be held next Wednesday, July 15 from 7pm at All Saints Church hall, will feature the 95-minute English subtitled documentary Pesta Babi (Pig Feast: Colonialism in our Time).
There will be refreshments and discussion following the screening.
Directed by investigative journalist Dandhy Dwi and social anthropologist Cypri Jehan Paju, the film highlights the impact of development projects on the eastern region of West Papua, where a huge biofuel land-grab is forcing people from their homes, away from traditional food sources, and into poverty and starvation.
West Papua Action Ōtepoti conveners Barbara Frame, Suzanne Menzies-Culling and Sina Brown-Davis said the news coming out of West Papua was "never good".
"West Papuans have been living under an illegal military dictatorship for over 60 years now, the human rights and environmental records are dreadful, and the Indonesian occupiers do their best to prevent independent journalists from coming in and reliable news from coming out," Ms Frame said.
The documentary Pesta Babi showed how agribusiness on a vast scale killed people, destroyed culture and wrecked biodiversity, she said.
It also showed the conviction of West Papuans’ defiance but also how easily their defences could be overcome by military might and massive forest-clearing machinery.
Ms Frame said the Indonesian government had not officially banned the film, but screenings there were frequently cancelled or disrupted, drawing international attention.
Screenings had been well-received in New Zealand and Australia.
Ms Menzies-Culling said the situation in West Papua involved a lot of racism, leading to the languages and culture of the Melanesia West Papuans — distinct from the Javanese majority in Indonesia — being gravely threatened.
"For example, the military presence in West Papua is way out of proportion in relation to its presence in the rest of Indonesia," she said.
"And due to trans-migration, it is thought that Indonesian settlers may now possibly outnumber the indigenous West Papuan population — part of the ongoing pattern of colonisation.
"New Zealanders would be horrified by the human rights abuses in West Papua, and the massive clearing of the rainforests is going to endanger the whole Pacific," she said.
Ms Frame said the West Papua Action Ōtepoti group had been campaigning in support of the indigenous West Papuan population since it was founded in 2017, including hosting annual flag raising ceremonies of the morning star flag of the Republic of West Papua.
Next week’s film screening would be a good opportunity to highlight the situation in West Papua once again and to encourage interested people to join the action group, she said.
There will be a chance to learn more and to sign up, following the screening.