A New Zealand pilot was taken hostage by an armed separatist group in Indonesia’s West Papua province on Tuesday. The pilot, who was working for a local airline, was reportedly seized at gunpoint while on a flight from Wamena to Ilaga. The separatists are demanding the release of five of their members who were arrested by Indonesian authorities last month. The Indonesian government has refused to meet the militants’ demands and is instead sending in security forces to rescue the pilot.
Papuan insurgents have taken Philip Mehrtens hostage in a remote mountainous region of Papua
A New Zealand pilot has been taken hostage by separatists in the Indonesian region of Papua.
Mr Mehrtens, 37, was arrested after his plane carrying five passengers was attacked after it landed in the remote mountainous province of Nduga.
His captors, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), have told BBC Indonesian that he is “safe”.
But they say they will not release him until West Papua’s independence is recognised.
The five passengers who were also on board, including a child, were released because they were local Papuans, Sebby Sambom, a TPNPB spokesman, told BBC Indonesian.
Indonesian authorities say they are dispatching a search and rescue team. However, police noted that this was logistically difficult as the remote area can only be reached by air.
Meanwhile, New Zealand’s Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said the country’s embassy in Jakarta was “working on the case”. The State Department had previously said it was “well aware” of the situation.
The small passenger plane, owned by Indonesia’s Susi Air, took off from Mozes Kilangin Airport in central Papua early Tuesday and was due to return a few hours later after dropping off passengers in Nduga.
A TPNPB spokesman told BBC Indonesian that Mr Mehrtens had been moved to a remote area in a stronghold district for the group and was being used as a “leverage tool” in political negotiations.
“The pilot is safe. That’s our responsibility… We’re taking him as our hostage in a remote area,” Mr Samborn said.
But he added the group would hold Mr Mehrtens captive until countries “like New Zealand and Australia” took responsibility for their role in the ongoing historic conflict and violence in Papua.
Papuan rebels seeking independence from Indonesia have previously made threats and even attacked planes they believe are carrying personnel and supplies bound for Jakarta.
The resource-rich region has been locked in a struggle for independence since it was brought under Indonesian control in a 1969 United Nations-supervised vote.
Conflicts between indigenous Papuans and the Indonesian authorities have been common ever since, with pro-independence fighters carrying out attacks more frequently since 2018.
The region is a former Dutch colony divided into two provinces, Papua and West Papua. It is separate from Papua New Guinea, which gained independence from Australia in 1975.
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