I began to explore the problems of West Papua during the COVID pandemic through human rights forums Amnesty International, Tapol.UK, ICNC and other sites. With the extra time I had during COVID lockdowns in 2020 here in France, I launched the bilingual (French/English) blog, Markus Haluk Papua, on the struggle of West Papuans against Indonesian colonization, as a way to engage in activism as a member of the Indonesian diaspora in France.

I have always enjoyed writing. I’m committed to using my residency in France, where freedom of expression is recognized, as an asset to the West Papuan independence struggle. This is a struggle that is invisible in international news and one that few people know about, beyond those directly involved or affected by it. But I have continued my blog activism, because I am committed to raising the visibility of this largely ignored but pressing conflict. As one of very few online platforms about West Papua, my blog has been visited almost 30,000 times and has about 4,000 readers per month. It is in this context that I recently contacted Markus Haluk, executive director of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), who is based in Jayapura, Indonesia. He has been arrested many times by the Indonesian police for his activism; however, he has such a high profile now and benefits from the protection of church leaders and international organizations.

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