December 10, 2007: The UN has concluded that
foreign peacekeepers will have to be stationed there indefinitely. This duty
seems likely to fall to Australia, a neighboring country that does not want to
see East Timor descend into anarchy, and become a haven for terrorists and
people smugglers.
December 5, 2007: In Papua, demonstrations against
tribal violence, mainly by women upset at government inability to halt the
fighting, turned violent. Police shot three of the demonstrators, who were
throwing rocks at the police. Two of the demonstrators died. Most Indonesians
are Malay, while the largely tribal peoples of Papua are Melanesian. The two
groups do not get along, partly because the Malays are better educated and
organized. Most of the Papuan tribes want more autonomy, or even independence.
But the tribes have many feuds with each other, which makes it easier for the
national government to maintain control of the region (which is the western
half of the island of New Guinea.) There are about 250 tribes in Papua, but
some of the larger ones are involved in the fighting, which is apparently over
personal issues, and real estate. These feuds have caused over a
hundred casualties this year. The fighting is taking place in remote areas, and
the police are having a hard time gathering information, much less halting the
violence.
December 1, 2007: In Papua, police arrested twenty
people, after hundreds rallied and raised a separatist flag.
