The Papuan Students Alliance wears traditional Papuan clothing during the 51st anniversary of West Papua in Yogyakarta, (12/1). They demanded that Indonesia and the UN recognize the sovereignty of West Papua. TEMPO/Suryo Wibowo
TEMPO.CO, Jayapura - Thousands of non-Papuans residents living in the Jayapura district marched in the district's street on Wednesday, July 3. The non-locals rallied to protest against the murder of a man from Sulawesi in Sentani, last week.
"We demand security guarantees and the closing of all liquor stores," said Burhan, one of the protest leaders.
Burhan said that the immigrants had never done any harm to the native Papuans. "Everyone her are traders and shop owners and we have been nice. But somehow [Papuans] think we've taken their rights, whereas we are helping them by providing jobs," he said.
The protest caused a number of shops to close as most shop owners joined the protest. Hundreds of merchants marched on the streets, asking the government to work harder in creating harmony between native Papuans and non-Papuans.
