About a month after Separatist rebels kidnapped a New Zealand pilot in the Indonesian province of Papua, the kidnappers have released new videos and photos of their hostage. The abducted Philip Mehrtens can be seen on the recordings in good health and in the middle of the jungle, surrounded by indigenous people, some of whom are heavily armed. On February 7, rebels from the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) set fire to a small airliner in the remote district of Nduga and kidnapped the pilot of the local airline Susi Air.
“Please don’t worry too much about me,” says the 37-year-old in one of the clips, addressing his family. “They take as good care of me as the situation will allow.” He gets enough food and water, and the rebels got him warm clothes.
In a second video, Mehrtens read a statement from the rebels saying he would not be released until Papua was independent from Indonesia. The United Nations should mediate in relevant negotiations. Until then, foreign pilots would be banned from working in Papua. According to the rebels, the recordings were made last Monday.
The Indonesian-ruled region of Papua in the western half of New Guinea has been the scene of separatist uprisings since the 1960s. The province was annexed to Indonesia in 1969 in a United Nations-sponsored vote. For years there have been repeated violent conflicts in the resource-rich region. The east of the island north of Australia is the independent country of Papua New Guinea.
