- Title: Migrants account for most deaths from violence in Indonesia's Papua - police
- Date: 25th September 2019
- Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (SEPTEMBER 24, 2019) (REUTERS) OFFICIALS TAKING SEATS FOR NEWS CONFERENCE INDONESIA POLICE CHIEF, TITO KARNAVIAN, ARMY CHIEF HADI TJAHJANTO, AND COORDINATING MINISTER OF POLITICS, LAW AND SECURITY WIRANTO SEATED FOR NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIA POLICE CHIEF, TITO KARNAVIAN, SAYING: "We have information that 26 people died, out of which 22 people were migrants from other parts of the country. They died because of stab wounds and fires in their houses or kiosks that got burned down. Four indigenous Papuans were killed while 66 others were wounded." MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIA POLICE CHIEF, TITO KARNAVIAN, SAYING: "The important thing that I need to underline in the case of Jayapura and Wamena is that we observed there was a plan to create unrest with violence to attract local and international media, in line with the events that happened in Geneva and New York." EMBLEM OF INDONESIA'S COORDINATING MINISTRY OF POLITICS, LAW AND SECURITY (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIA COORDINATING MINISTER OF POLITICS, LAW AND SECURITY, WIRANTO, SAYING: "We are trying to bring the situation back to normal, so that peace and harmony can return. There are already efforts to build a major conflict there." MEDIA DISMANTLING CAMERAS AT END OF NEWS CONFERENCE
- Embargoed: 9th October 2019 07:35
- Keywords: Papua unrest news conference Police Coordinating Minister of Politic Law and Security immigrants deaths
- Location: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- City: JAKARTA, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Civil Unrest
- Reuters ID: LVA001AY5LZK7
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Most of the 30 people killed in an outbreak of ethnic violence in the Indonesian region of Papua on Monday were migrants from other parts of the country, police said on Tuesday (September 24).
Some were stabbed or shot with arrows in one of the most serious incidents of violence in years in the area. Protesters torched houses and government buildings, National police chief Tito Karnavian told media at a news conference in Jakarta.
Monday's (September 23) bloodshed marked a major escalation in unrest in Indonesia's easternmost provinces of Papua and West Papua, collectively known as Papua, which were rocked by demonstrations in August over perceived ethnic and racial discrimination.
Karnavian said 22 transmigrants who lived in the town of Wamena and four indigenous Papuans were killed, while 66 others were wounded in the violence. The victims were motorbike taxi drivers, shop workers and restaurant waiters, he added.
In the provincial capital of Jayapura, where Papuan students clashed with security forces, one soldier and three civilians died, Karnavian said.
At the same news conference, Wiranto, Indonesia's chief security minister, said the violence was an effort by separatist groups to create a major and lasting conflict and "attract local and international media attention" as the United Nations General Assembly meets in New York.
Karnavian said the situation in Papua on Tuesday was under control but reinforcements would be sent to the region, bolstering the nearly 6,000 personnel already flown in from other parts of Indonesia since August.
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