Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference & West Papua Today
The Dutch–Indonesian Round Table Conference was held in The Hague from 23 August to 2 November 1949, between representatives of the Netherlands, the Republic of Indonesia and the BFO (Federal Consultative Assembly) representing various states the Dutch had created in the Indonesian archipelago. Prior to this conference, three other high-level meetings between the Netherlands and Indonesia took place; the Linggadjati Agreement (1947), the Renville Agreement (1948), and the Roem-van Roijen Agreement (1949). The conference ended with the Netherlands agreeing to transfer sovereignty to the United States of Indonesia.
On 17 August 1945, Indonesian nationalist leader Sukarno declared Indonesian independence. The Dutch who had been expelled in 1942 by the invading Japanese, viewed the Indonesian leadership as Japanese collaborators, and wanted to regain control of their colony. The conflict between the Dutch and Indonesian nationalists developed into a full-scale war of independence. By mid-1946, both sides were under international pressure to negotiate. The Dutch favoured a federal Indonesian state, and organised a conference in Malino in July 1946, which led to the establishment of the State of East Indonesia. In November, the Dutch and Indonesian sides reached an agreement at Linggadjati, in which the Netherlands agreed to recognize Republican rule over Java, Sumatra and Madura, and that Republic would become a constituent state of a federal United States of Indonesia. 28 January 1949, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 67 calling for an end to the recent Dutch military offensive against Republican forces in Indonesia and demanding the restoration of the Republican government. It also urged the resumption of negotiations to find a peaceful settlement between the two sides.
Following 6 July Roem-van Roijen Agreement, which effectively endorsed the Security Council resolution, Mohammad Roem said that the Republic of Indonesia, whose leaders were still in exile in Bangka, would participate in the Round Table Conference to accelerate the transfer of sovereignty.
The Indonesian government, in exile for over six months, returned to the temporary capital at Yogyakarta on 6 July 1949. To ensure commonality of negotiating position between the Republic and the federal delegates, in the second half of July 1949 and from 31 July — 2 August, Inter-Indonesian Conferences were in Yogyakarta between all component authorities of the future United States of Indonesia. The delegates agreed on the basic principles and outline for the constitution.
Following preliminary discussions sponsored by the UN Commission for Indonesia in Jakarta, it was decided the Round Table Conference would be held in The Hague.
The negotiations, which took place from 23 August to 2 November 1949, were assisted by the United Nations Commission for Indonesia. The Dutch, Republic of Indonesia and BFO delegations reached agreement resulting in a number of documents, namely a Charter of Transfer of Sovereignty (to come into immediate effect), a Statute of Union, a draft constitution, an economic agreement and agreements on social and military affairs.
The Dutch-Indonesian Union would not have any powers: it would be a consultative body with a permanent secretariat, a court of arbitration to settle any legal disputes, and a minimum of two ministerial conferences every year. It would be headed by the Dutch Queen in an entirely symbolic role.
The delegations also reached agreement on the withdrawal of Dutch troops “within the shortest possible time”, and for the United States of Indonesia to grant most favoured nation status to the Netherlands. In addition, there would be no discrimination against Dutch nationals or companies and the Republic agreed to take over trade agreements negotiated by the Dutch East Indies. However the two major areas of disagreement were over the debts of the Dutch colonial administration and the status of Western New Guinea.
The Dutch parliament debated the agreement, and the upper and lower houses ratified it on 21 December by the two-thirds majority needed. Despite criticism in particular of the Indonesian assumption of Dutch government debt and the unresolved status of West Papua, the Indonesian legislature, the Central Indonesian National Committee, ratified the agreement on 14 December 1949. Sovereignty was transferred to the United States of Indonesia on 27 December 1949.
West Papua Today
The Dutch colonialism over Indonesia as Dutch East Indies ended after almost three and half centuries of occupation. However, Indonesia is not free yet; it’s government had to pay the debts of the Dutch, mostly cost of their military operation here during Indonesian War of Independence. Also, the Dutch refused to hand over West Papua immediately, instead they reinforced their position there. This was the origin of Free Papua Movement, which many of it’s member don’t want to join Indonesia and sided with the Netherlands instead.
The Dutch government recognized Indonesia as independent country but only in it’s federal shapes; the United States of Indonesia. It lasted less than a year, before being replaced by the unitary Republic of Indonesia.
The questions is why after 5 years war of independence, many of Indonesian nationalists agreed with such an unfair agreements, and as far as it’s, there were never any fair agreement between Indonesian and the Dutch government concerned about status of Indonesia after independence. Many Indonesian army officers and generals saw these agreements as an unequal treaties and as a response to it, seized many Dutch business and companies and expelled almost all Dutch residents from Indonesia.
The war between Indonesia and the Netherlands over West Papua never happen however, as the United States pressured the Dutch government to hand over West Papua to Indonesia. The American government alarmed when it was revealed that the Indonesian government purchased many armaments from Soviet Union in order to take West Papua by force. Feared that Indonesia may becomes the communist country, the United States mounting international diplomatic pressure toward the Netherlands and the Dutch conceded to re-entering negotiations and agreed to the Ellsworth Bunker proposal on 28 July 1962, for a staged transition from Dutch to Indonesian control via UN administration, on the condition that a plebiscite would be held in future in the territory. The agreement was signed on 15 August 1962 at the UN Headquarters in New York and the territory was placed under the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority in October 1962. It was subsequently transferred to Indonesia in May 1963.
Does it over? Not yet.
The territory was formally annexed by Indonesia in 1969 after the Indonesian Government conducted an event termed the Act of Free Choice, which under strong pressure from the Indonesian military, unanimously “approved” the annexation. This Act of Free Choice has been strongly criticised by the international community, including the group International Parliamentarians for West Papua, which has termed the act “the act of no choice”. Since then the Indonesian government has endorsed a policy of immigration by people from Java and some other islands (the transmigration program). Within 40 years more Javanese than Papuans lived in the former Netherlands New Guinea. The program was formally ended by Indonesian president Joko Widodo in June 2015.
It kinda ironic that, during New Order period in Indonesia, Suharto who was liberator of West Papua instead gave favorable mining concessions of Grasberg mine to Freeport-McMoran. It terms were extended until 2041 with Freeport having 49% share there.
I will not talk about conflicts and environmental damages that still happening there but one thing for sure. As long as human don’t learn from history, colonialism and imperialism will keep occuring in new form, especially in this post modern era. I rather see West Papua as an independent country rather than opressed by its own government and foreign corporation.
