The President of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), Benny Wenda was in Solomon Islands last week to seek support for their application for full membership into the Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG).
Wenda met with Prime Minister Jeremiah Manele to discuss issues related to West Papua’s MSG membership.
He told SIBC News that it was a great honor to meet with PM Manele and discuss the issues affecting the people of West Papua.
“I am here to remind our leaders of the call for our full membership, which has been going on for almost 10 years, and we know that the history started here in the Solomon Islands during former Prime Minister Manasseh Sogavare’s endorsement of our application as an observer.”
“So, I am back to meet with the current Prime Minister Manele to brief him on the situation in West Papua.”
Wenda’s team is visiting other Pacific Island countries to discuss their issues and consider their call.
“I am going around lobbying with my teams for the upcoming MSG meeting and also the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF). They need to reiterate the call, and the Prime Minister assured me that we will discuss this issue prior to the Pacific Island Forum meeting in Tonga.”
“I hope to continue the discussion, and we hope the Prime Minister will consider our call,” Wenda said.
West Papua needs Melanesian leaders to make a bold decision to grant West Papua the full membership so that they can engage and participate fully.
“We’ve been coming here every year for almost 12 years, to Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea, to tell them what is happening in our country.”
Wenda emphasised that West Papua is a brother to Melanesian countries by blood, race, culture, and geography, and that they are entitled to become a true Melanesian nation that wants freedom and full membership.
Wenda and his team will travel to Papua New Guinea and Fiji after their visit to Vanuatu and Solomon Islands.
The team also met with civil society groups, West Papua sympathisers and political leaders, telling them that their support is important for advancing the MSG bid.
Benny Wenda is a West Papuan Independence Leader who founded the Free West Papua Campaign in 2004. He works tirelessly to ensure self-determination for West Papua.
