Vanuatu wants International Court to decide on West Papua

Updated June 21, 2010 17:02:57

Vanuatu's parliament has unanimously passed a motion calling for the International Court of Justice to investigate the the legality of West Papua becoming part of Indonesia. The motion was jointly sponsored by prime minister Edward Natapei and opposition leader Maxime Carlot Korman.

It will see the country ask the UN General Assembly to direct the international court to look into the manner in which the mainly Melanesian and Christian western half of New Guinea island was incorporated into the Asian and Islamic country of Indonesia in the 1960s.

The passage of the motion by all Vanuatu MPs has been welcomed by the diplomatic representative of the Free Papua Movement in Port Vila, Andy Ayamiseba. He tells Bruce Hill that other Melanesian countries may well follow Vanuatu's example soon.

Presenter: Bruce Hill
Speaker: Andy Ayamiseba, from the West Papua Freedom Movement diplomatic office in Vanuatu

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AYAMISEBA: We had been struggling alone for over 40 years, very lonely, nobody and it is very hard to break the zero, Vanuatu has finally and officially passed this motion that specify clearly that Vanuatu is going to test the legality of the incorporation and want to revisit the case in the court of justice through the United Nations General Assembly. SOURCE