930 Chapter 6
The rebels released the pilot on assurances that the Swiss would act as an intermediary
between the rebels and the Indonesian government. This setting caused much conster-
nation in Indonesia, and on March 27, two Indonesian jets flew 10 kilometers inside
Papua New Guinea airspace in search of the Swiss pilot’s aircraft. Papua New Guinea
expelled an Indonesian military attaché in response to the air violation on April 11.
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea then held talks but made little progress.
In early July about 50 Indonesian soldiers entered Papua New Guinea and set
houses and crops afire. Papua New Guinea responded with additional troops along the
border to crack down on the OPM rebels. Continuing negotiations between Indonesia
and Papua New Guinea broke down over the refugee issue. Papua New Guinea wanted
Indonesia to assure the well-being of repatriated refugees, but Indonesia would not
make these guarantees. Finally, on October 29, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
signed an agreement delimiting their border.
Coding changes: End Date changed from November 9, 1984.
MID#2745
Dispute Number: 2745
Date(s): October 16, 1988 to October 22, 1988
Participants: 850 Indonesia/910 Papua New Guinea
Outcome (and Settlement): Unclear (None)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: This dispute describes Indonesian border raids into Papua New Guinea
to pursue Melanesian guerrillas in October 1988. When official protests by the Papua
New Guinean government did not stop the raids, they appealed to Australia and the
United States to send troops to protect the border. The raids ceased shortly after this
appeal.
Coding changes: Start Date changed from October 22, 1988. End Date changed from
November 4, 1988. Fatalities changed from Missing.
MID#3961
Dispute Number: 3961
Date(s): June 25, 1990 to October 29, 1990
Participants: 850 Indonesia/910 Papua New Guinea
Outcome (and Settlement): Compromise (Negotiated)
Fatalities: None
Narrative: The Free Papua Movement (OPM) operated inside Irian Jaya, Indonesia,
on the border with Papua New Guinea (PNG), and OPM rebels often sought refuge
in PNG. On April 11, 1990, both countries signed a basic cooperation agreement and
followed that with a general border-security agreement on June 12. However, in the
middle of June, Indonesian troops began to pursue OPM rebels across the PNG bor-
der. On July 20, Indonesia agreed to a PNG request for talks about border violations,
and two days later PNG handed Mecky Salosa, deputy leader of OPM, to Indonesian
authorities. However, the dispute continued. In August, 250 Indonesian soldiers
backed by helicopters killed five civilians while fighting the rebels in PNG, and, on