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Separatist group presses boycott over 'ecocide' in Papua
Separatist group presses boycott over 'ecocide' in Papua
by AFP Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) Mar 20, 2025

More than 90 West Papuan tribes, political organisations and religious groups called on Thursday for a boycott of products allegedly implicated in the "ecocide" of the region, according to a separatist group.

West Papua has long been the site of a low-level separatist insurgency with Indonesian authorities accused of mass arrests to silence activists.

The tribes and groups called on people to boycott firms with products linked to palm oil sourced from Papua, a driver of deforestation in Indonesia, dubbing it ecological suicide or "ecocide".

"The boycott campaign has identified a number of target brands that are probably complicit in ecocide in West Papua," the Papuan group United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULWMP) said in a statement.

"All contain palm oil and are made by parent companies who source palm oil directly from West Papua," the ULWMP said.

Palm oil is a billion-dollar industry in Indonesia, which is the world's largest producer and exporter of the commodity used in everything from chocolate spreads to cosmetics.

Faizal Ramadhani, the head of a special unit formed to handle rebels in Papua, told AFP that the boycott was "propaganda".

A presidential spokesman did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Papua, a former Dutch colony, declared independence in 1961, but neighbouring Indonesia took control two years later, promising a referendum.

In 1969, a thousand Papuans voted to integrate into Indonesia in a UN-backed vote.

Papuan independence activists regularly criticise the vote and call for fresh polls, but Jakarta says its sovereignty over Papua is supported by the UN.

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