Round Table Conference, December 1949
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At the conference Dr. van Royen himself stated that "the population of Indonesia consists of about seventeen ethnic
and linguistic groups which, in their turn, contain
a still greater number
of sub-groups.... Common existence under the Netherlands Crown has created a sense of Indonesian
nationality." This statement is most relevant
because it demonstrates not only the common existence but also common fate and common
struggle of the people of West Papua with the rest of Indonesia
against the colonial rule.
The issue of West Papua had brought the Round Table Conference that opened
on August 23, 1949 in The
Hague to a near deadlock. The lndonesian
delegation was of the opinion
that the transfer of power should
include the whole territory of the former Dutch East Indies, including
West Papua. However,
at the last moment, when
agreement had been reached on all other points, the Dutch government was adamant on the exclusion of the territory of West
Papua in that transfer of sovereignty. The Dutch
government based its objectives
on irrelevant arguments, i.e. that ethnologically
speaking West Papua did not belong to Indonesia.
The Indonesian delegation
considered the sudden switch to ethnological and anthropological consideration absurd,
since the Round Table Conference was a political conference held for the
purpose of arranging the transfer of power over the former Dutch colonies in the East Indies. The wiaely believed
reason was that domestic political dynamics
in the Netherlands necessitated the maintenance of a sort of 'Dutch presence'
in Asia, particularly in the Pacific. Thus, Dutch-Indonesians would later settle the status of
West Papua in bilateral
negotiations under the continued
Dutch colonial rule.
This stiff and unyielding
Dutch stand concerning West
Papua came as a surprise to the Indonesian delegation,
particularly when agreement had been reached
on almost all other points. Mr. Ida anak Agung
Gde Agung, the then foreign
minister and head of delegation of the
State of East Indonesia wrote:
"This matter was of particular concern to the delegation from the State of East Indonesia.... West
Papua was in the sphere of East Indonesia and had been included in the former Dutch province
of 'The Greater East',
which covered almost
the same territory
as the State of East Indonesia." It is also important to note
that the Netherlands Constitutions of 1922 and 1948 did not
mention West Papua as being separate
from the rest of
Indonesia.
To avoid a deadlock, a compromise resolution on West Papua was finally accepted
in the
early hours of November 1, 1949, much to the disappointment of the Indonesian
delegation. The text read as follows:
" ... the status
quo of the Residency of New Guinea shall be
maintained with the stipulation that within a year from the
date of transfer
of sovereignty to the Republic of the United States of Indonesia the question of the political status of New Guinea be determined through
negotiations between the Republic at tile United
States of Indonesia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands." (Article 2)
When the actual transfer
of sovereignty took place on December
27, -1949
the forced exclusion of West Papua
clouded the happiness of Indonesians. It was, not with standing, the best
choice at the time in the struggle
to achieve independence and full sovereignty.
The lndonesian people never doubted
that the separation of West Papua was only temporary, as implied in Articlez.
Yet, the dispute over WestPapua continued to trouble relations between Indonesia and the Netherlands until 1960 and rut both countries on the brink of war.
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