KSP Moeldoko Affirms, The Government Will Not Use A Military Approach To Solve Problems In Papua

Presidential Chief of Staff, Moeldoko (left) meets with the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Kevin Burnett (Photo via Antara)

JAKARTA - Presidential Chief of Staff (KSP) Moeldoko emphasized that Indonesia no longer uses a military approach to deal with issues in Papua but uses a comprehensive approach.

"From the start, the Indonesian government understood and realized that the Papua issue could not only be solved with a military approach," said Moeldoko when meeting with the New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia, Kevin Burnett, at Bina Graha Jakarta, Antara, Tuesday, January 4.

Moeldoko said that a comprehensive approach concerning education, health and poverty alleviation was prioritized by the government to deal with problems in Papua. "We have to solve the problems of education, health and poverty and this is important for Indonesia," said Moeldoko.

For this reason, he said, President Joko Widodo had issued Presidential Instruction No. 9/2020 regarding the acceleration of welfare development in Papua and West Papua. The welfare acceleration program in Papua and West Papua is led by the Vice President, KH Ma'ruf Amin.

However, Moeldoko does not deny that there are dynamics developing in Papua following attacks by armed groups targeting public facilities such as schools and even attacks on teachers and doctors.

He said the dynamics could not be ignored. However, the deployment of troops to Papua is intended to assist the police, not for the purpose of military operations.

The former TNI commander who was once the commander of the territorial units also emphasized that the soldiers who were deployed to Papua were also intended for border security in accordance with the mandate of Law No. 34/2004 on the TNI.

"When I was still the commander of the TNI, my doctrine to my soldiers was that soldiers who were going to Papua had to put a hoe in the front, their weapons around their back. That means the welfare approach is number one," he said.

The meaning of the doctrine is that the arrival of soldiers to Papua must be able to turn a difficult situation into an easy one, and a poor condition to become prosperous. The soldiers are also expected to provide lessons and distribute health assistance for Papuans.

Meanwhile, Burnett has been appointed as New Zealand Ambassador to Indonesia since September 2021. Prior to serving as ambassador to Indonesia he was a New Zealand military officer for 35 years.

“Mr Moeldoko's explanation is very useful and we really appreciate the efforts of the Indonesian government in dealing with the Papua issue. I also want to visit Papua directly and have a dialogue with the people there," he said, as quoted from the official statement from KSP.

Bilateral relations between Indonesia and New Zealand have strengthened after the two countries signed the 9th Joint Ministerial Commission (JMC) in July 2020. In the signed document, the two countries agreed on 45 points of action plans that will serve as a reference for the development of cooperation in five next year.