Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General on events in West Papua

2.45 pm (Fiji Standard Time) Monday 02 September 2019 

Pacific Islands Forum Secretary General, Dame Meg Taylor has expressed her concern at escalating violence in West Papua (Papua) including reports of several deaths, many injuries, arrests and damage to property. 

“I am deeply concerned about the situation in West Papua, and I call for calm, and restraint by all parties.

 “We reiterate our calls for all parties to protect and uphold the human rights of all residents and to work to address the root causes of the conflict by peaceful means. 

“These events make the proposed visit of the UN High Commissioner for Human rights to West Papua even more important. 

“I repeat the recent call by Forum Leaders in Tuvalu for the parties to finalise the timing for a mission of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to West Papua (Papua),” said Dame Meg Taylor.    

[ENDS] Media contact: Catrina Rowe catrinar@forumsec.org M: (+679) 9986455 Communications & Public Affairs Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat