{"id":10036,"date":"2013-01-17T11:15:02","date_gmt":"2013-01-17T10:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/driftsurfingmagazine.driftdigital.co.uk\/?p=10036"},"modified":"2013-01-17T11:27:13","modified_gmt":"2013-01-17T10:27:13","slug":"uk-campaign-to-raise-west-papua-plight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/driftsurfingmagazine.driftdigital.co.uk\/index.php\/archives\/10036","title":{"rendered":"UK campaign to highlight West Papua plight"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a> A reason to think twice before you pack your bags for Indo next time. The little known conflict of West Papua highlights how your money could end up assisting wrong doing.<\/p>\n


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Off the plane, on the boat, off the boat, on the board… moments later you’re deep inside a turquoise frame, holding your breath as you grind along the reef. Indonesia delivering its promise as surfing heaven on earth.<\/p>\n

With 202,080km of coastline, Indonesia has more surfing potential than perhaps anywhere else on the planet. Magnetised by its pull, surfers arrive in droves spending anywhere between US $1000 and $6000+ for two weeks in heaven.<\/p>\n

But where is this money going and does it matter? Surfer and activist, Joe Jenkinson, from UK campaign group Don’t Go To Indo thinks it does.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Indonesian tourism industry is valued at some US $75.3 million and the burgeoning surf industry contributes a fair proportion of this<\/em>,\u201d he says. (Source<\/em>: World Travel & Tourism Council, Economic Impact, 2012, report: Indonesia)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat people don’t realise is that each trip to Indonesia reinforces an economy driven by oppression and resource grabbing in Indonesian occupied West Papua<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n

When the Dutch left the Western half of the island of New Guinea in 1961 they recognised the West Papuans as Melanesian, ethnically and culturally distinct from Indonesia, and West Papua enjoyed a brief spell of independence. Within months however the dream was dead. Indonesia invaded and when United Nation observers turned a blind eye to what was meant to be a free and fair referendum on Papuan independence in 1963, the stage was set for 51 years (and counting) of occupation and brutal oppression of West Papua, orchestrated by the Indonesian government for economic gain.<\/p>\n