West Papua is hoping New Zealand will support its call for a fact finding team to be sent to the region to look into human rights abuses by Indonesia.
The United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) is an observer member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) and wants similar status at the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF).
Papua is on the agenda at the Forum leaders' summit next month and the Movement's secretary general, Octo Mote, says they also want it to set up a fact finding mission.
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| The Secretary-General of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, Octo Mote. |
He says the Movement will seek an independent, multi-disciplinary group.
"So, not only government delegations but really with human rights experts, journalists, so it can really dig into what's happened in West Papua in the past 53 years. Otherwise, we West Papuans are crying for the creeping genocide that's taking place."
Octo Mote says 500,000 Papuans have been killed since Indonesia seized the region in 1962. (rnz)
