Papua

It comes amidst tensions in the region, and ahead of a state visit next month to Papua New Guinea by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia's state-owned news agency Antara reports Vice President Ma'ruf Amin met with Vanuatu's Deputy Prime Minister Jotham Napat in Jakarta on Monday.

Vanuatu has strongly supported the separatist push in West Papua for many years and Antara reports the issue of conflict in the province was discussed.

Reuters reported that Indonesian security forces responded to a riot - where they opened fire on a crowd - late last month.

The riot began after locals started throwing rocks at Wamena police station in Highland Papua where a man accused of abducting a six-year-old was detained.

Catherine Delahunty, a spokesperson for the network, said the group condemned the decision to open fire.

The Susi Air pilot was taken hostage on February 7 after landing in the remote region of Nduga.

In the video, which was sent to RNZ Pacific, Mehrtens was instructed to read a statement saying "no foreign pilots are to work and fly" into Highland Papua until Papua is independent.

He made another demand for West Papua independence from Indonesia later in the statement.

Mehrtens was surrounded by more than a dozen people, some of them armed with weapons.

RNZ Pacific has chosen not to publish the video.

The Coalition's Cahyo Pamungkas said the move would cause mistrust among the Papuan people and prove counter-productive.

He said it was being done in order to continue exploiting natural resources and controlling the land of Papua.

"This top-down decentralisation which is being done arbitrarily by the central government is like repeating the model of Dutch power in order to continue exploiting natural resources and controlling the land of Papua", said Pamungkas in a statement.

The last 10 days have seen some of the largest public mobilisations in Indonesia's easternmost regions for years, with tens of thousands taking to the streets across Papua and West Papua provinces.

Dozens have been arrested and there has been rioting in some areas, with the Parliament building in Manokwari razed. More than 1000 police and military personnel have been deployed to bolster an already significant military presence in the region.

The gunmen had targeted a light plane transporting paramilitary police.

An army spokesman said three civilians were killed and two people, including the pilot, were injured in the attack, which occurred after the plane landed at Kenyam airport in remote Nduga district.

The dead civilians were migrant traders from South Sulawesi province, including a husband and wife, who were shot and stabbed as the attackers fled the airport.

The magnitude 7.5 quake in Hela province on 26 February claimed at least 150 lives and caused widespread devastation in several PNG provinces.

The quake was also felt in various parts of Indonesia’s eastern most province, particularly in the area around the border with PNG.

Over five tonnes of food and clothing assistance for PNG's quake-affected communities were this week handed over to PNG by the Papua Language Institute.

Since early March, the Institute has been collecting donations from Papuans on the Indonesian side of the border.

The ban was imposed after officials took exception at tweets posted by one of them.

A journalist Rebecca Henschke was told to leave Papua after she posted a picture, showing boxes of food and drinks on a dock, captioned "This is the aid coming in for severely malnourished children in Papua- instant noodles, super sweet soft drinks and biscuits."

In the past few months, around sixty children have died from the disease in the remote district where malnutrition cases are also soaring.

Since reports of the extent of outbreak filtered out of Papua earlier this month, Indonesia's government has moved quickly to attend to the situation, but is copping criticism for neglecting the health of Papuans over many years.

Papua's police commander, Boy Rafli Amar last week said the number affected by malnutrition had surpassed 10,000, which was exacerbating the measles problem.

The Jakarta Post reported two Ilyushin-76 strategic airlifters brought 81 personnel to Frans Kaisiepo Airport in Biak regency.

A Biak Airport spokesperson Putukade Wempy said the military personnel, who would be in Biak until Saturday, would only be in Biak.

The paper reported that two Tupolev TU-95 bombers were also coming, taking total personnel to 110.