#Melanesian Spearhead Group

[themokupuni]

The US Pivot Towards Pacific Regionalism

Today, President Joe Biden released the United States’ Pacific partnership strategy. Although it bears some resemblance to the Pacific engagement strategy that was drafted by the Asia–Pacific Security Affairs Subcommittee of the Biden Defense Working Group, this strategy is a separate document that arose through a completely independent drafting process. Nevertheless, it fulfills part of the vision of those who worked on the original policy paper during the 2020 US presidential campaign. It provides a roadmap on the direction for engagement by the US government in the Pacific islands region.

When I reviewed this strategy a few days ago, the first thing that struck me was the considerable emphasis that has been placed on regionalism by the Biden administration. The strategy makes an explicit commitment to bolstering regional institutions such as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Pacific Community and the secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Program. No similar mention is made of a commitment to bolstering sub-regional institutions such as the Melanesian Spearhead Group, Polynesian Leaders Group and Micronesian Presidents’ Summit.

This is significant given the tremendous tension that has existed between regionalism and subregionalism among Pacific island countries over the past few years. Recall what happened last year. The member states of the Micronesian Presidents’ Summit announced their decision to withdraw from the Pacific Islands Forum. Over the summer, Kiribati appeared to follow through on that threat. Those wounds have yet to heal. So, it is quite remarkable that the Biden administration has made the decision to take sides and declare a preference for regionalism in the ordering of the international relations of Pacific island countries.

Yet, this move carries monumental risks. In the short run, it could amplify the regional dynamics involved in the compact negotiations with the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Republic of Palau. And that could frustrate the successful completion of the renewal negotiations with FSM and the Marshall Islands by the end of the year. In the long run, it could result in the weakening of relations among the Micronesian states and between the Micronesian states and the United States.

It’s therefore important to be clear about one thing: Biden and his administration are taking a gamble here. They are betting that the upside potential is worth more than the downside risks. Let’s hope they’re right. No one wants them to roll craps. That could imperil the preservation of American hegemony in the North Pacific.

After pondering this pivot towards regionalism, I was struck by the realization that this strategy provides a roadmap on the overall direction for only one kind of engagement with the Pacific islands. By definition, it doesn’t provide a roadmap on the overall direction for relationships that result from formal agreements between two or more nations for broad, long-term objectives that further the common interests of the respective parties. It therefore can’t provide a roadmap on the overall direction for free-association relationships and homeland relationships. Here, the scope is more limited. It is targeted at relationships that result from less formal agreements between two or more nations for narrower, shorter term objectives that further the overlapping interests of the respective parties.

As a consequence, the Biden administration has left the US government wanting for a comprehensive roadmap on the overall direction for engagement in the Pacific islands region. Someday, the US Congress may remedy that situation by demanding one. If that happens, the administration could easily fulfill the request by creating two additional national strategies. Like the Pacific partnership strategy, they could be nested side by side under the Indo-Pacific strategy. For argument’s sake, we could call them the Pacific free-association strategy and the Pacific homeland strategy.

Ideally, all of these strategies should have been developed by one team in a collaborative process involving three simultaneous work streams. That would have made the most sense, since the government needs to think systematically about developing, implementing and sustaining relationships in the Pacific islands region. Unfortunately, the National Security Council appears to have taken a different approach with the development of this strategy. That could make it a lot more difficult for the US government to integrate and harmonize its different kinds of engagements across the Pacific islands region.

Michael Walsh is an affiliate of the Center for Australian, New Zealand, and Pacific Studies of the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University.

Note: This article appeared in The Strategist on September 30, 2022.

The Mokupuni Magazine | © 2022

[intersectionalpraxis]

Here is a statement from the ULMWP President regarding Indonesia’s genocide of indigenous people in West Papua, dated December 2023.

https://www.instagram.com/p/C1O0YZXIrip/?igsh=b2ZlMXQ2M3V2aXR3

The Indonesian occupiers displaced more than 80,000 West Papuans in the finals months of 2023, leaving them without shelter, food, or medical care. Indonesian paramilitary units, including some that utilize Israeli-made weapons, are being deployed in West Papua.

Last month, Indonesian soldiers opened fire on a group of West Papuan women and children, and burned dozens of villages to the ground.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Free West Papua Campaign (UK) (@official.fwp.campaign)

"To all the West Papuans, whether women or children living in the refugee camps, students in the cities, or elders in the bush -our home guards, who suffered for years and kept the flame alive by raising the Morning Star during the darkest days of our movement -you are not alone. The world is hearing your cry. This year, the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) leaders issues their own communities calling for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to be allowed into West Papua, adding their voices to the existing calls of the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) and Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS). Thank you to all Melanesian leaders for your consistent support. Indonesia cannot hide their shameful secret anymore[...]"

Free West Papua.

[zvaigzdelasas]

In December 2021, more than 96 percent of people voted against full sovereignty, but the pro-independence movement FLNKS (Kanak and Socialist National Liberation Front) has refused to recognise the result because of a boycott by the Kanak population over the impact of the covid pandemic on the referendum campaign[...]

The Melanesian Spearhead Group leaders — Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the FLNKS — met in Port Vila last week for the 22nd edition of the Leader’s Summit, where they said “the MSG does not recognise the results of the third referendum on the basis of the PIF’s Observer Report”. FLNKS spokesperson Victor Tutugoro told RNZ Pacific the pro-independence group had continued to protest against the outcome of the December 2021 referendum. “We contest the referendum because it was held during the circumstances that was not healthy for us. For example, we went through covid, we lost many members of our families [because of the pandemic],” Tutugoro said.[...]

New Caledonia’s pro-independence FLNKS movement also said it would continue to back the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) to become a full member of the Melanesian Spearhead Group.

31 Aug 23

[teliusyikwa]

Pemimpin Melanesia ingin bertemu Presiden Indonesia segera, terkait West Papua

__Melanesian Spearhead Group bertemu di sela-sela KTT Pemimpin Kepulauan Pasifik ke-53 di Nuku’alofa, Tonga pada hari Selasa, 27 Agustus 2024 – dok Jubi.id.__ Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) ingin mengadakan pertemuan dengan Presiden terpilih Indonesia, Prabowo Subianto untuk membahas masalah hak asasi manusia yang terjadi di West Papua. Hal ini muncul setelah Perdana Menteri Fiji dan Papua…

[papuapress]

MEMBER OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, HON. DAVID MCALLISTER VISITS MSG SECRETARIAT

PORT VILA, VANUATU (12 August 2024): The Director General of the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat, Leonard Louma, received a courtesy visit from the Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the European Parliament, Hon. David McAllister on Thursday 8 August 2024.The Chairman was keen to know more about the MSG, its specific role and focus activities in pursuit of its Members’…

[papuapost]

Pernyataan Terbuka Pemimpin ULMWP _ Menyikapi Rencana Kongres I ULMWP oleh Panitia

I. Proses Pelaksanaan dan Penetapan KTT II ULMWP Pada 22 Agustus 2023, di Kantor Perwakilan Seva Province Port Vila Vanuatu, Ketua Legislatif Tuan Edison Kladeus Waromi membuka secara simbolis KTT (Konfrensi Tingkat Tinggi) II ULMWP (United Libertion Movement for West Papua) setelah dilakukan jumpa Pers tentang keanggotaan ULMWP di MSG (Melanesian Spearhead Group). Pada 23-24 Agustus 2023,…

[wantoktube]

Fiji and PNG Prime Ministers to.Meet Indo's President on West Papua Issue

Earlier today, the Melanesian Spearhead Group Caucus appointed me as a Special Envoy to address the West Papua issue. Alongside Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea (PNG), we’ve been tasked with meeting the President of Indonesia to discuss this pressing matter. This significant decision emerged during today’s MSG Caucus meeting when I proposed sending a representative to Indonesia…

[freehawaii]

KE AUPUNI UPDATE - OCTOBER 2023

Reconnecting with the Pacific... One of the greatest tragedies of being under the rule of the United States has been the loss of connection to the larger ʻohana of Moana Nui, our Pacific family. Yes, we have connections through our language, culture, customs, genealogies, canoe traditions, and we have people to people relations. But, what about nation-to-nation relations? What about the issues we face as nations of this vast ocean? While the rest of the nations of Moana Nui interact and work with each other on crucial matters through organizations such as the Pacific Islands Forum, the Polynesian Leaders Group, the Melanesian Spearhead Group, the UN Pacific SIDS, and so forth, sadly, Hawaiʻi is glaringly absent from the picture. Yes, some of our people engage as experts and contributors to the discourse on Pacific Islands issues. But, because Hawaiʻi is regarded as a ʻstateʻ of the United States, and not an independent nation, Hawaiʻi has no significant voice, and certainly no decision-making role in the Pacific. Unfortunately, the one that presumes to speak for us in international matters (as well as domestic policy) is the United States — and we know how clueless they are about what’s in our best interest and the nature of our island ways. Over the years, as I have attended Pacific regional meetings and conversed with heads of states, diplomats and parliamentarians, they invariably mention they would be very happy if Hawaiʻi (as the Hawaiian nation, not the U.S. ‘state’) was to become an active member of the Pacific family of nations to help with the critical issues facing our islands. It was the intent of several of our Kings, especially Kalākaua, to bring together our ʻohana of Moana Nui to work for the betterment of our peoples and nations. This great vision was rudely dashed by the assault and abduction of our nation by the United States. Fortunately, we are on the verge of overturning that wrongful taking and restoring the Hawaiian Islands as a sovereign, independent nation. The irony is that Hawai’i, which was recognized as a sovereign nation long before anyone else in the Pacific, will be among the last to reclaim our place in this extraordinary family of nations and join the voyage, as our wayfinding ancestors did, to navigate the path for our future. We believe as we recall and become grounded and anchored in the Pacific Way — the ways of our ancestors... mālama ʻāina, kapu aloha, kūleana — and with the significant practical experience we have as a modern economic, geo-political and cultural hub, we Hawaiians have much to contribute to advance aloha ʻāina to better the lives the people of Pacific and the Planet.

 “Love of country is deep-seated in the breast of every Hawaiian, whatever his station.” — Queen Liliʻuokalani ---------- Ua mau ke ea o ka ʻāina i ka pono. The sovereignty of the land is perpetuated in righteousness.

------ For the latest news and developments about our progress at the United Nations in both New York and Geneva, tune in to Free Hawaii News at 6 PM the first Friday of each month on ʻŌlelo Television, Channel 53. 

------ "And remember, for the latest updates and information about the Hawaiian Kingdom check out the twice-a-month Ke Aupuni Updates published online on Facebook and other social media." PLEASE KŌKUA… Your kōkua, large or small, is vital to this effort... To contribute, go to:  

• GoFundMe – CAMPAIGN TO FREE HAWAII • PayPal – use account email: info@HawaiianKingdom.net • Other – To contribute in other ways (airline miles, travel vouchers, volunteer services, etc...) email us at: info@HawaiianKingdom.net  “FREE HAWAII” T-SHIRTS - etc. Check out the great FREE HAWAII products you can purchase at... http://www.robkajiwara.com/store/c8/free_hawaii_products All proceeds are used to help the cause. MAHALO! Malama Pono,

Leon Siu

Hawaiian National

[realita-lampung]

Kakorlantas Polri Gelar Tactical Floor Game KTT Archipelagic and Island State Forum

Kakorlantas Polri Bersama Kapolda Bali melaksanakan Tactical Floor Game (TFG) dalam KTT Archipelagic and Island State Forum. Kapolda Bali Irjen Pol. Ida Bagus Kd Putra Narendra, S.I.K., M.Si, turun langsung pada kegiatan Tactical Floor Game (TFG) yang dilaksanakan di Gedung Perkasa Raga Garwita, Polda Bali, Jum'at (6/10/2023). TFG tersebut bertujuan untuk menyusun taktik dan strategi yang akan diterapkan dalam pelaksanaan pengamanan KTT-AIS FORUM 2023. TFG juga dapat digunakan sebagai wahana koordinasi dalam perencanaan operasi agar masing-masing Satgas mengetahui peran dan fungsinya untuk menyukseskan dan mendukung berjalannya kegiatan KTT-AIS. Kegiatan yang dipimpin oleh Kakor Lantas Polri Irjen. Pol. Drs. Firman Santyabudi, M.Si., didampingi Kapolda Bali serta Pejabat Utama Mabes Polri dan Pejabat Operasi pada Polda Bali yang ikut mendampingi dalam rangka kesiapan Polri dalam KTT AIS FORUM 2033 Kakorlantas Polri mengatakan bahwa kegiatan TFG ini sangatlah penting dilakukan guna memantapkan kesiapan para unsur yang terlibat dalam rangka mengamankan event KTT AIS FORUM 2023 yang akan dilaksanakan di Bali pada tanggal 10-11 Oktober mendatang. “Hal ini merupakan tahapan dengan prosedur dan mekanisme yang harus dilakukan dalam menjalankan latihan secara bertingkat dan berlanjut dari tahapan sebelumnya. Oleh sebab itu, saya berharap pada kegiatan ini kita bisa menemukan hal-hal yang selama ini belum diprediksi, sehingga kita dapat mengantisipasinya dan lebih matang dalam menghadapi kegiatan TFG tingkat selanjutnya,” ujar Kakorlantas Polri Kapolda Bali menyebutkan bahwa TFG kali ini merupakan bagian dari rangkaian kesiapan Pengamanan VIP dan VVIP terkait dengan tambahan situasi dinamis saat pergerakan anggota yang sedang bertugas maupun pergerakan delegasi pada saat KTT AIS FORUM 2023 “Pada Tactical Floor Game yang ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui detail tentang pelaksanaan pengamanan baik Ring 1, 2 dan 3, yang mungkin pada pelaksanaan nya akan bergerak dinamis namun sekiranya dengan perencanaan awal ini maka pelaksanaannya pun tidak akan jauh berubah walaupun pada saat event KTT AIS FORUM 2023 situasinya akan dinamis,” demikian pungkas Kapolda Bali Sementara itu, saat ditemui ditempat TFG berlangsung, Kabid Humas Polda Bali Kombes Pol Jansen Avitus Panjaitan, S.I.K., M.H menyampaikan bahwa mengingat begitu pentingnya kegiatan TFG ini, maka diperlukan keseriusan dan semangat yang tinggi dari seluruh personel Satgas Pamwil, sehingga semuanya dapat berjalan dengan baik sesuai harapan “Polda Bali yang tergabung dalam satgas Pamwil Bali bersama anggota yang BKO dari Mabes Polri dan beberapa polda terdekat dari terus berupaya menyukseskan acara tersebut dengan terus berkoordinasi dan berkaloborisasi bersama stakeholder yang ada di Provinsi Bali dalam mengantisipasi hal-hal yang tidak diinginkan,” tandas Kabid Humas. Terkonfirmasi 32 negara akan hadir, dengan 5 Kepala Negara hadir langsung di Bali yaitu Presiden Micronesia, Perdana Menteri Niue, Perdana Menteri São Tomé and Príncipe, Perdana Menteri Timor-Leste serta Perdana Menteri Tuvalu. KTT AIS Forum mengusung tema utama "Membina Kolaborasi, Memajukan Inovasi untuk Laut dan Masa Depan Bersama" (Fostering Collaboration, Enabling Innovation for Our Ocean and Our Future). Sementara tiga subtema dari forum tersebut yakni Blue Economy; Our Ocean, Our Future; dan Solidarity. Fiji dan Tonga akan mengirimkan Deputi Perdana Menteri. Sementara Maldives, Madagascar, Marshall Islands, Palau, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Papua Nugini mengirimkan Menterinya. Selanjutnya Carbo Verde, New Zealand akan menghadirkan Wakil Menteri. Ireland, Japan, Cyprus, Samoa, Malta, United Kingdom, Saint Lucia, Cook Island, Filipina dan Suriname menghadirkan Duta Besarnya. Sementara 4 Organisasi Internasional yang akan hadir adalah Melanesian Spearhead Group, Pacific Island Forum, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, United Nations Development Programme. Read the full article

[tumblingxelian]

Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) is not complete without the West Papua ...

[swldx]

RNZ Pacific 1309 3 Mar 2023

7390Khz 1259 3 MAR 2023 - RNZ PACIFIC (NEW ZEALAND) in ENGLISH from RANGITAIKI. SINPO = 55434. English, s/on w/bellbird int. until pips and news @1300z anchored by Susana Lei'ataua. Cyclone Kevin lashes Vanuatu. The Category 4 system is the second severe tropical cyclone to hit the Pacific nation in as many days and is tracking towards the already severely battered southern Tafea province. Fiji's Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka is the first Fijian leader in 16 years to hold a one-on-one meeting with the head of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua, while also confirming his government will support the independence campaigners bid to become full members of the Melanesian Spearhead Group. However, "sovereignty issues" will need to be considered. National has criticised the government's Three Waters policy since it was announced, vowing to repeal it if it wins the October election. It's been challenged to say what it would do, and last weekend leader Christopher Luxon put up his party's alternative. The company that operates Mt Ruapehu's ski slopes has announced it will sell winter season passes for 2023. Ruapehu Alpine Lifts remains in voluntary administration, but will begin selling the passes soon. Richard 'Alex' Murdaugh, the disgraced lawyer and member of a powerful South Carolina (US) family, was sentenced to life on Friday for killing his wife and son in what prosecutors said was an attempt to hide his drug addiction and theft of millions of dollars. Sports. @1306z "Special Weather Bulletin": Cyclone Kevin positions and windspeeds and direction predictions read in slow English by female announcer. Backyard fence antenna, Etón e1XM. 100kW, beamAz 35°, bearing 240°. Received at Plymouth, United States, 12912KM from transmitter at Rangitaiki. Local time: 0659.

[djabarpos]

Perkokoh Kemitraan RI di Pasifik, Menlu Retno Temui Negara-Negara Pasifik

Perkokoh Kemitraan RI di Pasifik, Menlu Retno Temui Negara-Negara Pasifik

DJABARPOS.COM, Bali –  Jelang pelaksanaan Indonesia-Pacific Forum for Development (IPFD) di Bali, Selasa (6/12/ 2022), Menteri Luar Negeri RI Retno Marsudi melakukan serangkaian pertemuan bilateral dengan negara-negara dana organisasi internasional di Pasifik yaitu Timor Leste, Papua Nugini, Vanuatu, dan Direktur Jenderal Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG). “Indonesia adalah salah satu negara…

[cathnews]

Pacific churches condemn ‘silencing’ of Papuan voices and media blackout

Pacific churches condemn ‘silencing’ of Papuan voices and media blackout

Pacific churches have condemned the media blackout in West Papua, military crackdown in parts of the territory and the silencing of dissenting voices. They have also criticised the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) for “allowing Indonesia into their fold”. In a statement, the Suva-based Pacific Conference of Churches (PCC) said it had noted with deepening concern the humanitarian conflict in West…

[seriousbusinessforhumans]

According to the Movement's chairman Benny Wenda, the formation of an administration is a direct rejection of Jakarta's plans to extend 'Special Autonomy' provisions in West Papua. Special autonomy was granted almost twenty years ago in response to growing Papuan demands for independence. The provisions, due to expire next year, have been widely deemed by Papuans to have failed to adequately empower them to run their own affairs.

Violent conflict continues to plague the Papuan provinces, while West Papuans voicing independence aspirations are routinely arrested amid ongoing human rights abuses. Wenda will be the provisional government's interim president, with the rest of his cabinet to be unveiled in coming months. He said the new government-in-waiting aimed to mobilise West Papuans to achieve an independence referendum "after which it will take control of the territory and organise democratic elections". Wenda said that Indonesian repression currently rendered elections impossible. But in contrast, Indonesian officials say West Papuans already freely participate in elections in the republic democratic system.

Wenda said that the new Provisional Constitution for West Papua centred on environmental protections, social justice, gender equality and religious freedom. The rights of Indonesian migrants living in West Papua would also be protected. "The Constitution establishes a governance structure, including the formation of a Congress, Senate and judicial branch," Wenda said in a statement. He added that the West Papua provisional government is supported by all liberation groups inside West Papua, "representing the overwhelming majority of the people".

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua is already part of the Melanesian Spearhead Group of countries and territories, which Indonesia is also a part of, although neither as full members.

In making the announcement, the UK-based Wenda said that on behalf of the people of West Papua, the "Provisional Government confirms its right to make a Unilateral Declaration of Independence at an appropriate time".

"As laid out in our Provisional Constitution, a future Republic of West Papua will be the world's first Green State,and a beacon of human rights - the opposite of decades of bloody Indonesian colonisation."

(selected segments of the article)

[papuapress]

PCC Welcomes MSG Decision to Engage Further with Indonesia

MEDIA RELEASE: Pacific Churches welcomes Melanesian Spearhead Group move to engage further with Indonesia on the situation in West Papua. In noting the appointment by the MSG of Fiji Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Prime Minister James Marape of Papua New Guinea (PNG) as special envoys to meet with the President of Indonesia to discuss the pressing issue of West Papua, Pacific Conference of…

[papuapost]

MOBILISASI UMUM MENDUKUNG AGENDA KEANGGOTAAN PENUH

HIMBAUAN UMUM WEST PAPUA (ULMWP) DI MELANESIAN SPEARHEAD GORUP (MSG) Agustus 2023 – “West Papua for Full Membership MSG 2023” Pertemuan Konferensi Tingkat Tinggi pemimpin Melanesian Spearhead Group (KTT-MSG/Leader Summit) yang ditunda pada bulan Juli 2023 akan berlangsung tanggal 23-24 Agustus 2023 di Port Vila, Ibukota Negara Republik Vanuatu sebagaimana telah dikonfirmasi resmi pemerintah…