Terlibat Unjuk Rasa, Empat Warga Australia Dideportasi dari Papua
Indonesia Deports Four Australians for Demonstrating in Papua
Editor : Ismail Gani
Translator : Novita Cahyadi
EMPAT WARGA Australia dideportasi dari Papua pada Senin, kata Ditjen Imigrasi di Kemenkumham, setelah mereka diduga ikut dalam demonstrasi menuntut kemerdekaan bagi Papua.
Papua dalam dua pekan terakhir diwarnai unjuk rasa, tindak anarkis dan kerusuhan yang dipicu oleh aksi rasisme di Surabaya, Jawa Timur pada pertengahan Agustus lalu.
Keempat warga Australia memasuki Papua dengan kapal pesiar melalui pelabuhan Sorong pada 10 Agustus, kata pejabat imigrasi Indonesia Erlangga Dwi Saputra kepada AFP.
Mereka "diduga ikut serta dalam unjuk rasa menuntut kemerdekaan Papua di depan kantor walikota Sorong", kata Ditjen Imigrasi dalam pernyataan resminya.
Itu terjadi ketika polisi di Papua, wilayah paling timur Indonesia yang berbatasan dengan Papua Nugini yang merdeka, melarang demonstrasi yang dapat mengarah pada "tindakan anarkis".
Pada Minggu [1/9] polisi menyatakan puluhan telah menangkap lebih 60 orang sehubungan dengan kerusuhan di Jayapura, sementara Polri dan TNI menyatakan mengerahkan sekitar 2.500 tambahan personel polisi dan TNI ke Papua.
Warga Australia - yang diidentifikasi sebagai Tom Baxter, 37, Danielle Hellyer, 31, Ruth Irene Cobbold, 25, dan Cheryl Melinda Davidson, 36 - diterbangkan keluar dari Papua melalui Bali pada Senin, kata Erlangga DS.
Ketiganya akan terbang ke Australia pada Senin malam, sementara Davidson akan dideportasi pada Rabu.
Menurut Erlangga, tiga dari empat warga Australia terlibat aktif dalam unjuk rasa di Sorong dan mengibarkan bendera "Bintang Kejora" yang dinyatakan terlarang pada 27 Agustus. Polisi membekuk mereka di kapal pesiar kelompok itu, tambahnya seperti dikutip AFP yang dilansir MailOnline.
FOUR AUSTRALIANS were deported from Indonesia's Papua region on Monday, the immigration department said, after they allegedly took part in demonstrations demanding independence for the restive province.
Impoverished Papua, where a low-level insurgency against Indonesian control has simmered for decades, has seen two weeks of mass protests and deadly riots sparked by anger over racism and fresh calls for self-rule.
The four foreigners entered the island region on a yacht through the port of Sorong on August 10, Indonesian immigration official Erlangga Dwi Saputra told AFP.
They were "suspected of taking part in demonstrations demanding Papua's independence in front of Sorong mayor's office", the local immigration department said in a statement.
It came as police in Papua, Indonesia's easternmost territory which shares a border with independent Papua New Guinea, banned demonstrations that could lead to "anarchist acts".
On Sunday, police said dozens had been arrested in connection with rioting in the region's capital, while Indonesia said it would deploy around 2,500 more police and troops to the province.
The Australians -- identified as Tom Baxter, 37, Danielle Hellyer, 31, Ruth Irene Cobbold, 25, and Cheryl Melinda Davidson, 36 -- were flown out of Papua to the island of Bali on Monday, Saputra said.
Three were due to fly to Australia on Monday evening, while Davidson will be sent there on Wednesday.
According to Saputra, three of the four had participated in a demonstration in Sorong and raised the forbidden "Morning Star" Papuan flag on August 27. Police found the fourth on the group's yacht, he added.
The unrest across Papua appears to have been triggered by the mid-August arrest of dozens of Papuan students in Java, who were also racially abused.
Jakarta took control of the former Dutch colony in the 1960s after an independence referendum widely viewed as a sham.
Indonesian authorities are deeply sensitive about Papua. In May, a Polish man was sentenced to five years in prison for plotting with rebels to overthrow the government in the province.
