Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Pacific Islands Forum and Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States request for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit and prepare a report on West Papua, whether the Government plans to support that request.

The UK supports a visit by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (ONHCR) to Papua. Officials from the British Embassy have discussed the proposed visit of with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and continue to encourage the Indonesian Government to agree dates as soon as possible. The former Minister for Asia and the Pacific, Heather Wheeler attended the Pacific Island Forum in August 2019, noting the communiqué. It is our longstanding position that we regard Papua and West Papua provinces as being part of Indonesia and consider dialogue on territorial issues in Indonesia as a matter for the Indonesian people.