West New Guinea dispute
While the Netherlands had ceded sovereignty over most of the Dutch East Indies to Indonesia on 27 December 1949 following an independence struggle, it retained control over its colony on the western half of New Guinea.
Following the failure of the Dutch and Indonesians to resolve their differences over West New Guinea during the Dutch-Indonesian Round Table Conference in late 1949, it was decided that the present status quo of the territory would be maintained and then negotiated bilaterally one year after the date of the transfer of sovereignty.
[17][18] Some support also came from native kingdoms mainly around Bomberai Peninsula which had extensive relationship with Sultanate of Tidore, these efforts was led by Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan, King of Sekar in the region's western part.
One early headmaster of the school was Soegoro Atmoprasojo, an Indonesian nationalist graduate of Taman Siswa and former Boven-Digoel prisoners who fled to Australia after Japanese occupation, he later on tried to revolt on 31 December 1945 which failed.
PKII was led by Silas Papare, alongside Alwi Rahman as chiefs, Ari Kamarea, Andarias Samberi as secretaries, and Thung Tjing Ek as treasurer.
Still the movement did not disappear in Biak, Stevanus Yoseph together with Petero Jandi from Polongbangkeng's group, Terianus Simbiak, Honokh Rambrar, Petrus Kaiwai and Hermanus Rumere on 19 March 1948, instigated another revolt.
Around the Bomberai Peninsula area of Fakfak, specifically in Kokas, Indonesian nationalism emerged under the King Al-Alam Ugar Sekar, Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan.
The Dutch authorities later aided with incoming troops from Sorong arrested the King Rumagesan and he was given capital punishment, although later commuted to live imprisonment under popular demands.
[26] Since 1947, in response to many civil servants, both Papuan locals and other islanders, sympathizing with Republican movement, the Dutch authorities increased its effort to imprison them or persuade them to switch sides although later on encourage them to pursue independence outside Indonesian Republic.
Initially, he unsuccessfully tried to force the Indonesian government to formally abrogate the Round Table agreements and to adopt economic sanctions but was rebuffed by the Natsir Cabinet.
Undeterred by this setback, Sukarno made recovering West Irian an important priority of his presidency and sought to harness popular support from the Indonesian public for this goal throughout many of his speeches between 1951 and 1952.
In Hollandia 1951, some Papuan from Western part of New Guinea founded the Partai Indonesia Islam, the party was fiercely against Dutch authorities and as a result was imprisoned and given sentences of 12 years.
[24] On 2 May 1950, RIS court release a decision to free King of Sekar, Machmud Singgirei Rumagesan who went on to lead Gerakan Tjendrawasih Revolusioner Irian Barat (GTRIB) in 1953, and in that year, there were 2 revolts against Dutch New Guinea Government, one from around his kingdom regions, led by Abutalib bin Paris from Kokas, and on 10 October 1953, from Waris district.
[33] Alongside this the Dutch authorities began capturing Papuan youths members of Organisasi Pembebasan Irian (OPI) from Sorong branch, as Dimara was a former chairman in 1950, he was exiled to Digul until 1960.
In response, the Dutch Ambassador to the United Nations, Herman van Roijen, warned that the Netherlands would ignore any recommendations which might be made by the UN regarding the dispute.
This resolution was sponsored by eight countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, India, Syria, and Yugoslavia) but failed to secure a two-thirds majority (34-23-3).
[45] In response to growing tensions between Jakarta and the Hague, the Indonesian government unilaterally dissolved the Netherlands-Indonesian Union on 13 February 1956, and also rescinded compensation claims to the Dutch.
[46] On 23 February 1957, a thirteen country–sponsored resolution (Bolivia, Burma, Ceylon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, and Yugoslavia) calling for the United Nations to appoint a "good offices commission" for West New Guinea was submitted to the UN General Assembly.
These efforts culminated in the establishment of a new hospital in Hollandia (currently RSUD Jayapura), a shipyard in Manokwari, agricultural research sites, plantations, and a military force known as the Papuan Volunteer Corps.
During a visit to the Netherlands, the New Zealand Prime Minister Walter Nash suggested the idea of a united New Guinea state, consisting of both Dutch and Australian territories.
Later that year, the Malayan Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman proposed a three-step initiative, which involved West New Guinea coming under United Nations trusteeship.
[60] By 1961, the Netherlands government was struggling to find adequate international support for its policy to prepare West New Guinea for independent status under Dutch guidance.
While the Netherlands' traditional Western allies—the United States, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand—were sympathetic to Dutch policy, they were unwilling to provide any military support in the event of a conflict with Indonesia.
[73] In 1962, the Royal Netherlands Navy deployed a sizeable naval task group including the aircraft carrier HNLMS Karel Doorman to West New Guinea.
In response, the Dutch authorities deployed a Lockheed Neptune patrol aircraft and three destroyers to intercept the three Indonesian motor torpedo-boats (the fourth boat had experienced engine trouble and did not participate).
This operation was to be carried out in four phases and would have involved joint air and naval strikes against Dutch airfields, paratroop and amphibious landings at Biak and Sentani, and a ground assault on the territory's capital Hollandia.
The U.S. government also wanted to repair relations with Jakarta, which had deteriorated due to the Eisenhower Administration's covert support for the Permesta/PRRI regional uprisings in Sumatra and Sulawesi.
As a face-saving measure, the Dutch would hand over West New Guinea to a provisional United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) on 1 October 1962, which then ceded the territory to Indonesia on 1 May 1963; formally ending the dispute.
While several international observers including journalists and diplomats criticised the referendum as being rigged, the U.S. and Australia supported Indonesia's efforts to secure acceptance in the United Nations for the pro-integration vote.
[84][85] In 2017, a petition smuggled and claimed to be signed by 1.8 million West Papuans[Note 1] was presented to the United Nations demanding a new independence referendum and a UN representative to investigate suspected human rights violations by Indonesian security forces.
