The political elites of Vanuatu should really understand the meaning of independence and the struggle of each country to defend its sovereignty. Not all countries in the world are the same as those that were formed from a relatively homogeneous community and then became members of the Commonwealth and joined organizations consisting of countries that speak French.
Indonesia is not like that. This country is the embodiment of the ideals of hundreds of millions of people from hundreds of different ethnic groups, who suffer the same fate, who have the same ideals, who have the desire to live together, with strong solidarity. Maintaining Indonesia’s independence and sovereignty also means maintaining pluralism, maintaining tolerance, maintaining unity, and maintaining an example of diversity to the world.
It is not wise to maintain primordial sentiments by confronting the concept of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia with the fantasy of forming a narrow ethnicity-based state. It is not good to provoke primordialism among Papuans so that they turn away from their own country. The adventures of Vanuatu’s political elite are really dangerous for humanity and world peace.
Vanuatu’s political elite must understand that every part of the Republic of Indonesia feels that Papua is in it. Indonesia is made up of so many ethnicities and Papua is one of them. An adventurer like Benny Wanda–who willingly sacrificed small people, women, and children in armed adventures–may well be on the trajectory of every country’s history. But it was just a small test that didn’t need to be dishonorably provoked. There is a civilized way of arranging such things.