handed cancelled contracts and deported when used, worn out and exploited to the last drop of their energy. They are not economic slaves, hired to make the lives of the rich happier and healthier and then rejected. They have a moral right to a decent life having sacrificed so much and worked so hard. It is to the benefit of all that they are welcomed and helped to integrate and belong to the society they helped build. That is true Christianity.

Eco-terrorism in West Papua
by Neles Tebay

The following is by a priest of Jayapura Diocese, West Papua.

West Papua is the western half of the Island of New Guinea. It shares a land border with the state of Papua New Guinea and a sea border with Australia. The territory has vast reserves of natural resources, such as gold, copper, oil, minerals, Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), timber, and fisheries. However, since the beginning of Indonesian occupation over West Papua in 1963, theft and destruction of natural resources is rife. The indigenous Papuans remain poor. Unfair exploitation of these natural resources has even been an obstacle to peace.

The first example concerns Indonesian legal and illegal logging industries. West Papua’s forests cover approximately 41.5 million hectares. About 22 million hectares are classed as 'production forest', as opposed to conservation areas. According to Greenpeace in South East Asia, more than 25 percent of West Papua’s forest have been sold in concessions to timber firms exporting to Japan, the US, the European Union, and China. In 2001, some 40 logging companies were active in West Papua. The family of former President

Suharto, retired generals, Jakarta politicians, and business tycoons all hold timber concessions. They are the beneficiaries of the logging business, not the indigenous Papuans.

The Indonesian government gets approximately $100 million a year from West Papuan forestry. Besides, the illegal logging business is thriving. The pressure on West Papua’s forests is growing as other parts of Indonesia are logged out and overseas demand for timber grows, notably from China.
As much as 70 percent of logs smuggled out of Indonesia to timber merchants in China, Singapore, Malaysia and the rest of the world come from West Papua.

The Indonesian security forces, both the army and police, are heavily involved, both directly and indirectly, in the log-smuggling business. As the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (ETA) says, "Illegal logging in Papua typically involves the collusion of the Indonesian military, the involvement of Malaysian logging gangs, and the exploitation of indigenous communities". Both the legal and illegal logging companies pay little or no heed to environmental sustainability. The West Papuan forests are fast disappearing.

The indigenous Papuans, who have little idea about the value of the timber in the market, are exploited and deceived by both the legal and illegal loggers. Their ancestral land rights are disrespected. When they demand justice, they are accused of being separatist rebels by the Indonesian security forces who are deployed to protect the logging industries. Consequently, many Papuans have been victims of human right abuses committed by the security forces.

The second example is the unfair exploitation of gold and copper by the American company, Freeport McMoran,