The women’s movement Kongra Star in Rojava and North and East Syria have written a statment in solidarity with West Papua.
To the people of West Papua
With this message, we, the women’s movement “Kongra Star” from Rojava and North-East Syria, express our support for the people of West Papua who are struggling against colonial rule and oppression. Although people in West Papua disappear, flee, are tortured, are subjected to assimilation policies and are murdered on the basis of racist motives on a daily basis, they continue to stand up for their rights and existence and to resist. We as Kurdish society, and especially we Kurdish women, are also confronted with a daily policy of oppression and know what it means to resist against it.
The colonial and imperial powers are doing everything they can to destroy indigenous peoples and take away their land in order to install projects of exploitation on it. In West Papua, an immeasurable force of oppression is being exerted on indigenous people who are merely striving for a peaceful life. Arbitrary arrests, executions, torture and the destruction of people’s livelihoods are on the agenda. At the same time, the global organisations are silent, just as the internationalist state society is silent.
In West Papua, the Indonesian government is leading a project of displacement and resettlement. Millions of people are being herded into West Papua from all parts of Indonesia in order to blend the identities of the peoples living there and invent an artificial nationality based on this. In the 1960s, this was also a widespread practice of the Assad regime in Rojava. Many Arab tribes and families were relocated to areas inhabited mainly by Kurds. It was a stated goal to create a so-called “Arab belt”. Even today, the Turkish state continues to try to exert massive influence on the demography of regions such as Afrin, Serê Kaniyê and Girê Spî through colonial plans.
We demand that all political prisoners in West Papua be released, that all military forces be withdrawn and that violence against women be stopped. It must be ensured that the people of Papua can initiate a democratic process of self-determination. All international institutions and organisations that have taken up the cause of human rights must break their silence and put a stop to the oppressive policies of the state.
The system of capitalist modernity with its policy of cultural as well as physical extermination is trying to spread in all corners of the world. But in the places where there is resistance and a search for freedom and hope, this policy is breaking. That is why we stand with the society in West Papua.Because they live a struggle worthy of being appreciated.Their freedom also means our freedom and gives us strength and hope. Their success will also be our success.
Long live the resistance of the peoples! Bijî Berxwedana Gelan!
Kongra Star Womens Movement
