Seán Haughey
Ceist:200 Mr. Haughey asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the position of the Government in respect of independence for West Papua from Indonesia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17286/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 15 June 2004
Ceisteanna (149)
Freagraí scríofa
Ireland, together with its EU partners, welcomes the progress Indonesia has made in its democratic reform process. We recognise the importance of the elections to the Legislature, held in April 2004, and the forthcoming presidential elections, to be held in July 2004.
While acknowledging Indonesia's legitimate concern to preserve its territorial integrity, we continue to encourage the Government of that country to strengthen its efforts to address the legitimate aspirations of the people of Papua. A balanced way forward would involve good governance and more control of the land and resources for their own benefit by the local population. In this regard, I welcomed the decision in August 2003 of the Government of Indonesia to suspend the implementation of the presidential decree dividing Papua into three provinces. I regret, however, that this suspension has been described by the Government of Indonesia as temporary.
At the April 2003 meeting of the EU External Relations Council, Ireland, together with its EU partners, adopted Council conclusions on Indonesia. These confirmed the EU's support for the territorial integrity of Indonesia and stressed the importance of the full implementation, in both letter and spirit, of the special autonomy law in Papua. This law, which dates from November 2001 but has not yet been fully implemented, provides for a greater degree of autonomy for Papua than for Indonesia's other provinces. Subsequently, in January 2004 the External Relations Council adopted conclusions on South East Asia which reiterated our commitment to the territorial integrity of countries in that region, to a democratic and stable region and to the promotion of human rights, democratic principles and good governance.
As a demonstration of our commitment as Presidency to raise the level of our political dialogue with Indonesia, I led an EU ministerial Troika meeting with the Indonesian Foreign Minister, Mr. Wirajuda, on 18 April last. This was the first meeting at this level between the EU Presidency and Indonesia in a number of years. In particular, I used the occasion to express the EU's continuing concerns about the situation in Papua. Minister Wirajuda took note of our concerns and expressed his belief that the special autonomy law will satisfy the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of the people in Papua. I made it clear that we would carefully monitor the situation in this regard.
Ireland, together with its EU partners, will continue to support the development of a strengthened partnership and effective dialogue between the EU and Indonesia. The Government sees this as the most effective framework at this time for addressing our serious concerns about the situation in Papua.