This message was delivered by IPMSDL Global Coordinator Beverly Longid in the Green State Vision Launch during the COP 26 in Glasgow, United Kingdom.
4 November 2021
On behalf of the International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self-Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) and the Merdeka West Papua Support Network, I congratulate the ULMWP in today’s launch of the “Green State Vision”.
The IPMSDL co-established the Merdeka Network in recognition of the legitimacy of West Papua’s struggle for self-determination and liberation and the need for international solidarity that is rooted in broad anti-imperialist unity that is also parallel to the quest for just and lasting peace.
That is why we also agree that the discourse on climate emergency, just like other issues in Papua and the Pacific, should not be discussed separately on issues of peace, people’s development, and the right to self-determination. The occupation that West Papua is experiencing is, after all, fundamentally an issue of ownership and management of Papua’s natural resources. It is an issue of Papua’s patrimony. It is an issue of West Papua’s independence.
While there is a facade, especially among fascist states, that there is supposedly growing recognition of Indigenous Peoples as “stewards'' of the environment, the attacks against us and IP advocates remain relentless as we are displaced, threatened, and even killed when we stand against, or merely get in the way of anti-environment and anti-people projects that are mislabelled as national development projects.
We stand in solidarity with West Papuans who have been called separatists and terrorists for rightly defending their ancestral territories and communities from plunder, and give due honor and recognition to the brave activists, people’s organizations and movements, including the ULMWP and its local chapters, who have consistently asserted the right to self-determination.
We also hope that this Vision is able to re-define “green” in contrast to how this concept is manipulated by multinational and transnational corporations, and even financial institutions, to forward market-based solutions that in fact do more damage to the environment, which also need to be exposed in the course of our struggle. The role of US imperialism and other imperialist countries need to be exposed in the climate crisis debate.
Finally, we are glad to be part of this historic event and look forward to the materialization of this Vision in the present struggle as well as in the future victory of the West Papuan people over their land and sovereignty.
West Papua will not be green until and unless, the colors blue, red, and white of the Morning Star Flag flies freely over West Papua
Long live international solidarity.
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