Student killed in riots in Papua
New riots in the Indonesian province of Papua have killed at least one student and injured ten others. The man was shot dead yesterday in riots in the provincial capital Jayapura, said Deputy Mayor Rustan Saru today.
According to him, the shots were fired by the police, who tried to separate two struggling groups. „The police had to shoot because the crowd was out of control,“ Rustan told dpa. From the police itself, there was no opinion.
Protests for self-determination
The exact course could not be clarified with certainty. Indonesia sent more than 2,500 soldiers and police officers to the trouble area on Saturday to control protests for self-determination.
The protests in the provinces of Papua and West Papua have been ongoing since mid-August. The trigger was said to have been racist attacks by security forces against students from Papua on the Indonesian island of Java. They are said to have been called „monkeys“ and „pigs“.
Decades of aspirations
The Indonesian government has also blocked the Internet in the troubled region in response to the protests. Protesters repeatedly fired government buildings there. The police used tear gas and rubber bullets.
The number of fatalities in the clashes varies. The two provinces are located on the island of New Guinea. Separatists have been trying for decades to achieve the independence of the resource-rich region. In the east of the island is the state of Papua New Guinea.
