Antara, Mimika, Papua – Rescue operations entered their 17th day on Thursday at Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) Grasberg Block Cave underground mine in Mimika, Central Papua, where five workers remain trapped following a deadly mudslide incident.

Jakarta – Nickel mining threatens one of the world's most important marine biodiversity and coral hotspots in Indonesia, despite the government revoking several permits, a report warned Thursday.

Aida Ulim, Jayapura – Thousands of members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) took to the streets to hold a peaceful demonstration to commemorate National Farmers' Day (HTN) on Wednesday September 24.

Kaneta Naimatau – Indonesia has made it clear that West Papua will not feature in Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) peace and security discussions, with its Ambassador to Fiji, Dupito Simamora, firmly dismissing the issue as an 'internal matter'.

Aida Ulim, Jayapura – The Central Executive Board of the West Papua National Committee (BPP-KNPB) has stated that it opposes Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto delivering a speech tomorrow at the General Debate session at the 80th General Assembly of the United Nations in New York on Tuesday September 23.

Salman Mardira, Jakarta – The National Strategic Project – or PSN – for a sugarcane plantation in Merauke, South Papua, is suspected of violating the rights of Indigenous peoples and committing human rights (HR) violations. Commission XIII of the House of Representatives has called for the project to be temporarily suspended.

Salman Mardira, Tembagapura, Papua – Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) on Saturday has recovered two bodies from a mudslide that struck its Grasberg Block Cave mine in Tembagapura, Mimika Regency, on Sept. 8, as rescue teams continue searching for the remaining trapped workers.

Antara, Nabire – The Siriwini Bawah Bridge, which connects Nabire City with Nabire Port in Central Papua, collapsed following a magnitude 6.5 earthquake that struck the region early Friday morning.

In addition, several buildings were reported damaged, while internet networks in Nabire Regency also experienced disruptions.

Novali Panji Nugroho, Jakarta – The Indonesian Ministry of Defense has responded to the alleged smuggling of firearms by Australian citizens supplied to the combatants of the Free Papua Movement-National Liberation Army (TPNPB-OPM).

Christine Rovoi, PMN – Two men have been charged in an Australian court for allegedly trafficking guns and ammunition to a group of armed rebels after they kidnapped a New Zealand pilot and held him in captivity in West Papua for almost two years.

Divya Karyza, Jakarta – Seven workers from major mining firm PT Freeport Indonesia (PTFI) remain trapped underground, one week after a landslide struck the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) mine in Tembagapura, Mimika, Central Papua.

Dani Aswara, Jakarta – A riot broke out in Elelim, Yalimo Regency, Highland Papua, on Tuesday, September 16, 2025, causing injuries to eight people.

Martin Bagya Kertiyasa, Papua – The Free Papua Movement (OPM) has once again spread false news on social media, claiming that Indonesian military personnel carried out a brutal shooting of Papuan students at Yalimo State Senior High School 1, resulting in casualties, the military said on Tuesday.

Nandito Putra, Jakarta – Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) reported a sharp drop in PT Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) output after a landslide struck the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) underground mine in Tembagapura, Central Papua, on Monday night, September 8, 2025.

Dani Aswara, Jakarta – The Australian Federal Police (AFP) have arrested two men from New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland on charges of attempting to supply firearms to the Free Papua Movement's armed wing, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB-OPM).

Dani Aswara, Jakarta – The Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) denies information regarding the addition of non-organic troops in Sugapa District, Intan Jaya, Papua. Previously, news of an increase in the number of TNI troops there reportedly caused residents of Kampung Jalai to evacuate since September 11, 2025.

Anna Hartley – Two men have been charged after a two-year counter-terrorism investigation allegedly linked them to the trafficking of firearms and military-grade equipment from Australia to a violent paramilitary group in Indonesia.

The report, Bringing it All Back Home: The Role of British Companies in the Destruction of West Papua, is co-authored by Professor David Whyte and Samira Homerang Saunders from Queen Mary's School of Law. It presents the first comprehensive audit of British involvement in extractive industries and large-scale agriculture in the region.

Hans Nicholas Jong, Jakarta – The Indonesian government has allowed a controversial nickel mine to resume operating in the marine haven of Raja Ampat, despite a company-commissioned study finding the project has harmed the environment and community health in one of the world's most biodiverse marine ecosystems.

Antara, Jakarta – Rescue teams at Freeport Indonesia's Grasberg mine in Papua are scrambling to reach seven workers trapped underground after a torrent of mud flooded the Grasberg Block Cave (GBC) tunnels earlier this week.

Antara, Timika, Papua – The Timika Search and Rescue (SAR) Office confirmed Thursday that all four people aboard the Intan Angkasa Air Service helicopter PK-IWS, which crashed in Jila District, Mimika Regency, Central Papua, were found dead.

Andrew Mathieson – A new report about British involvement in occupied West Papua was tabled on Tuesday in the UK parliament.

Paul Gregoire – "Indonesia is in chaos, as massive protests have erupted over corruption, economic hardship, and police brutality," declared West Papuan provisional government president Benny Wenda in a 1 September 2025 statement. "I call on all my people to get ready for another escalation back home. West Papua is ready to depart from this dying empire."

Eddie Osifelo, Honiara – Pacific Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called on incoming Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Chair and Solomon Islands Prime Minister, Jeremiah Manele, to honour past commitments on West Papua.

Antara, Timika, Papua – Rescue teams at Freeport Indonesia's (PTFI) Grasberg Block Cave mine in Mimika, Central Papua, were still working Wednesday to evacuate seven contract workers trapped underground following a landslide that struck earlier this week.

On 15 August 2025, Indonesian police and Brimob forces used excessive force against peaceful KNPB protesters in Sentani, Jayapura Regency. The demonstration, part of region-wide commemorations from Sorong to Merauke, was organised to mark the controversial 1962 New York Agreement that transferred Papua from Dutch to Indonesian control.

Civil society advocates have called on Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders to address the issue of West Papua when they meet in Honiara this week.

An open letter said the region had issued several communiques about human rights abuses by Indonesia in the annexed territory, but a new approach was needed.

Caleb Fotheringham in Honiara and Lydia Lewis, RNZ Pacific presenter – Former New Caledonia President Louis Mapou says human rights and sovereignty are big issues facing not only Melanesia but the wider Pacific.

As Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders gather in Honiara for the 54th Leaders' Meeting, Pacific communities are demanding more than diplomatic platitudes – it's time for Forum Leaders to end the silence and act on the escalating humanitarian crisis unfolding in our region.

On 3 September 2025, an indigenous Papuan named Vicktor Bernadus Deyal, 29, was arbitrarily arrested by police officers in front of the police station (Polsek) on Paradiso Road in the town of Dekai, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province. Initially suspected of being intoxicated, Mr Deyal was reportedly arrested and tortured inside a police truck for about three hours.

Pacific Greetings,

Dear Pacific Islands Forum Leaders,

I am writing to you concerning the human rights situation in West Papua.

Susan Price – Indonesian security forces opened fire on a peaceful protest in Sorong, West Papua, on August 27, killing one person and injuring several others, according to eyewitness reports received by Green Left.

Indonesian security forces also made 20 arrests. They released 16 detainees two days later, but have arrested another four pro-democracy activists.

Responding to the brutality of security forces in responding to demonstrations in Sorong and Manokwari which resulted in one local resident being shot and one person being killed, Amnesty International Indonesia's Executive Director Usman Hamid said:

Rights activists have called on the Indonesian government to return four treason-charged Papuans to their home province from South Sulawesi province to ensure their safety and a fair trial.

Fred Pearce – It was an unlikely destination for the first field visit by the new president of Indonesia. Last November, two weeks after taking office, Prabowo Subianto traveled more than 2,000 miles from his presidential palace in Jakarta to the remote coastal village of Wanam on the island of New Guinea.

Jayapura – Thousands of protesters who joined in solidarity with Papuan students held a peaceful demonstration urging the chief of the Southwest Papua Regional Police (Kapolda) and the chief of the Sorong City Municipal Police (Kapolresta) to investigate the violence allegedly committed by police officers against residents in Sorong City, Southwest Papua, during a riot there on Augu

Indonesia is in chaos, as massive protests have erupted over corruption, economic hardship, and police brutality. I call on all my people to get ready for another escalation back home. West Papua is ready to depart from this dying empire.

West Papuan civil society and solidarity networks are calling for urgent action over a brutal Indonesian security forces crackdown that has led to a wave of arrests and political repression.

Protests erupted in Sorong, in the western part of the Melanesian territory, on Wednesday over the transfer of 4 political prisoners out of the territory.

West Papuan civil society and political groups and solidarity networks are calling for urgent action following a wave of arrests and political repression by the combined security forces of police in Indonesian occupied West Papua in Sorong on 27 August 2025, after local West Papuans acted to resist the transfer of 4 political prisoners out of the territory.

A West Papuan independence advocate has accused Indonesia of "continuing to murder children" while escalating its military operations across the Melanesian region.

United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda says West Papua faces two connected crimes – ecocide and genocide.

Joe Collins of AWPA said, "the demonstrators were peacefully protesting the transfer of four Papuan political prisoners – Goram Goram Gaman, Maksi Sangkek, Piter Robaha, and Nikson Mai from the Sorong State Court to Makassar. They were calling on the authorities to allow the prisoners to remain in West Papua where they would have the support of their families and friends".

Gamaliel Kaliele, Sorong – At least 12 residents of Sorong City, Southwest Papua province, were arrested following a protest against the transfer of four Federal Republic of West Papua (NFRPB) political prisoners (tapol) to Makassar, South Sulawesi, to stand trial on treason charges.

Gamaliel M. Kaliele, Jayapura – Manokwari Legal Aid Assessment, Research and Development Institute (LP3BH) Executive Director Yan Christian Warinussy has condemned the legal authorities' decision to move the trial of four Papuan political prisoners (tapol) to Makassar, South Sulawesi.

Gamaliel M. Kaliele, Sorong – Protesters from the Greater Sorong Pro-Democratic Solidarity Movement held a protest action opposing plans to move the trial of four Papuan political prisoners (tapol) from Sorong City to Makassar in South Sulawesi.

The action took place at the Southwest Papua Governor's Office on Friday August 25 from morning through to the evening.

Andrew Mathieson – Exiled West Papuan media are calling for Fiji – in a reflection of Melanesian solidarity – to hold the greater Pacific region to account and stand against Indonesia's ongoing media blackout in addition to its human rights abuses.

Ema Ganivatu – In exile but unbroken, three West Papuan journalists are in Fiji calling on the Pacific to stand with them against Indonesia's ongoing media blackout and human rights abuses.

Andi Adam Faturahman, Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) has accused the Indonesian military (TNI) deployed in Yakuhimo regency of planting landmines to target the militias and individuals deemed affiliated with them.

Tyberius Seeto and Kayla Hill – On 17th August, Indonesia celebrated 80 years of independence, an end to a 350 year rule riddled with mass atrocities committed by the Dutch, as well as an eventual end to the Japanese empire during World War II.

Laurensia Yame is a mother of seven in her 50s who, with her Indigenous community, the Awyu, lives deep in the forests of South Papua Province, Indonesia. In late 2020, she heard from women traders that workers were surveying the community's forest for a company's commercial use, including Wagaban hamlet, where she farms.