wollastoni wrote: ↑Thu Sep 26, 2024 9:22 am
Last year in Papua with a team of Naturalis, we had a lot of difficulties and lost several days due to non cooperative forestry guards, police, customs and so on... I could be wrong but I had the feeling it was a kind of "nationalism" and "revenge against the former colonialists".
This one is easy. Melanesian Papua is an occupied country controlled by Indonesians since 1945. The Indonesians are corrupt, oppressive, and rape Papua for resources (=$$) while investing nothing. It is illegal to show the Papuan flag, and the Indonesian Special Forces (Kopassus) have no qualms about killing Papuans.
Talk about global politics! The Grasberg mine in Papua pays US$7,000,000 in taxes PER MONTH. Its ownership is half Indonesian, half US. Zero ownership by Papuans. Per Wikipedia: "the New York Times reported that between 1998 and 2004 Freeport [Grasberg] had given senior military and police officers and military units nearly $20 million." So no wonder US doesn't support freedom for Papua. Worse, US special forces train Kopassus.
So when you show up in Papua with a permit issued by government officials 4000km distant, and despised, what do you expect? This is Papuan land, has been for thousands of years. The Papuans see you as an emissary of Jakarta. What do the Papuans get from your visit? Did you stay in Papuan owned lodging or Indonesian? Were you accompanied by Papuan guides, or Indonesian overseers?
You weren't clear if the "forestry guards, police, customs" were Indonesians or Papuan. If they were Papuan, I hope it's clear now why they may have been uncooperative. If Indonesian, well they're looking for a payoff.
Being an occupied people, the Papuans must obey the Indonesian laws, many of which are simply to control and punish the Papuans. That doesn't mean they respect these laws. Too, as one gets more remote from the government centers, "laws" become less enforceable and more cultural; the Papuans like everyone have cultural taboos & rules which aren't written on paper, and they will enforce them.
This type of situation exists to varying degrees worldwide. The state of New York is ruled by politicians from New York City. The last three state governors have been booted from their position due to illegal activity, and the should-be Lt. governor is in prison. Corruption is rampant. Worse, these-NYC scum write laws simply to punish the Upstate people who vote against them- and who in many cases blatantly ignore their laws. So we have a population of millions who do not respect the laws, nor many of those who enforce them, but must grudgingly abide by them. Thus it's no surprise that people from NYC feel unwelcomed up north.