Indonesia Jurisdiction Internet

Indonesia Jurisdiction Internet

Indonesia Jurisdiction Internet

Since the time of European conquest, different parts of New Guinea have come under different influences as they moved through colonial rule to annexation and independence. An appreciation of the island’s political makeup requires understanding of the different jurisdictions as and when they have applied to the island’s geographical parts.

Today New Guinea is split by a line that bisects it at 141° East longitude, cutting the island roughly in half. The western part is in Indonesia while the eastern part is the independent nation of Papua New Guinea.

Indonesian New Guinea

The territory that is now part of Indonesia was for 150 years a Dutch colony known as Netherlands New Guinea. In 1962 with Indonesia making claims on the territory, it came under United Nations jurisdiction for a while and was called West New Guinea. Indonesia took control in 1963 and gave it the name West Irian, renaming it Irian Jaya in 1973. In 2002 it was split into two states of Indonesia and given another name change, this time to Papua.

The western extremity of Indonesian territory, the area of land covering the Doberai Peninsula, was firstly known as West Irian Jaya (Irian Jaya Barat) on its formation as a state in 2002. In 2007 the name was changed to West Papua (Papua Barat).

So today the western half of New Guinea Island comprises the Indonesian states of Papua and West Papua.

The division of Papua by the government in Jakarta is controversial, seen by Papuan separatists as something of a ‘divide and rule’ strategy. In 2004 an Indonesian court in fact ruled that the split contravened special Papua autonomy laws. These laws were enacted in 2000 when President Wahid brokered a compromise to appease the separatist movement. However by 2004 Indonesia’s political position had changed and the new province’s creation was considered a fait accompli in Jakarta.