The year is 1989 and after living the last 3 years in Bundi Kemp and
Nawae Block Settlements after dropping out of high school, curious teenager
Silas went to Madang to lie low for a while after stepping out on the wrong
side of the law one too many times. Accompanied by Madang Locals, Bigfoot and
Mike, Silas caught a BK bus from Eriku to Madang.
From Madang Town they caught another PMV to a village in the Amele
region a couple of hours out of town. That would become home for the next few
months. Silas, with Bigfoot as his teacher would learn how to live like a
villager, he would clear the bush and plant gardens he would learn to enjoy
simple pleasures like eating Taro from the fire with a fresh chilli from the
tree.
It was during those months in Amele that Silas met West Papuan
refugees Kaka Eddie and Mickey Salosa whom Bigfoot had given a portion of his
customary land near the village so that they may grow and cultivate food for
their own families in town. During their many trips to tend their garden they would
often come to visit Silas and Bigfoot and soon the stories of the home they
escaped were etched upon Silas’ mind.
It was soon apparent that Kaka Eddie and Mickey Salosa were active
campaigners for Independence in West Papua, Kaka Eddie had a retail store in
Madang and Goroka as well as several other Businesses whose sole purpose was to
raise funds for the OPM freedom fighters. Mickey’s job was to transport the
funds or proceeds of those funds across the border to the OPM freedom fighters
that needed them. Bigfoot and Mike had already accompanied Mickey on several of
these trips and now Silas was keen to go on the next one.
They had been collecting essential supplies for OPM freedom fighters
for several months and storing them in the village; it was now time to go. Kaka
Eddie picked them up in his 4WD and drove them up the north coast past Bogia to
the Ramu River where they met their transport and home for the next few weeks,
a 22’ banana boat. They then slowly made their way to the Green River Camp where
they would meet Kelly Kwalik and other OPM members who would walk with them
across the border to camps at Jamrab and Obrub to deliver the much needed
supplies.
After several days of walking through the jungle carefully avoiding
Indonesian military Patrols Kelly, Mickey, Mike, Bigfoot and Silas settled down
for a night at the relative safety of the Green River Refugee camp on the Papua
New Guinea side of the Border. How wrong they were. At about 4am they were
awoken by the chaos of flares and gunfire as the Indonesian Military illegally
raided the camp on Papua New Guinea Soil. The 5 men were stripped naked,
beaten, abducted by the Indonesian Soldiers and forcibly taken back across the
border to Biksi where they were tied naked to stakes for several days with no
food and the only water from the never ending rain whilst they awaited
transportation by Chopper to Jayapura to face trial.
Late in the morning the distinct sound of the chopper was heard as it approached
the camp. The Indonesian solders untied the 5 men and stood them in a line at
gunpoint ready for the approaching chopper. Then all of a sudden as the chopper
was making its landing it violently spun over itself and crashed, almost
immediately the camp was been stormed by OPM rebels armed with WW2 era 303
rifles, a few shot guns, bows and arrows and bush knives. The Indonesians
didn’t even put up a fight. The five men were rescued and once again escorted
back to Papua New Guinea. They later learnt that the rear rotor of the chopper
was shot by an OPM member brandishing a WW2 50 caliber Machine gun modified to
shoot single rounds. Kelly accompanied his men back to Papua, Mickey, Mike,
Bigfoot and Silas made their way back to Madang. They never spoke to anyone of
what they saw, but people knew these men had changed upon their return. A few
months later Kaka Eddie and Mickey Salosa were arrested by PNG Police in Madang
for alleged migration offences. Kaka Eddie was released without charge. Mickey
Salosa was transported to Port Moresby and formally deported to Jakata. No one
ever heard from Mickey again. In December 2009 Kelly Kwalik was killed by
Indonesian solders in Timika in Papua.
Silas, Bigfoot and Mike got together in Madang in November 2014 and
remembered their brothers Mickey and Kelly who died fighting for their
homeland. To this day they are honored to have shared a small part of their
lives with such honorable men. Silas tells me that whilst he is happy that so
many people are now aware of the plight of the West Papuans there are so many
horrific stories yet to be told and people have no real idea of what really
been really happening for the last 40plus years. He says :"whilst it seems
to be a popular cause with our youth to support these days I am afraid that
those of us who contributed with our hearts souls and sometimes lives have been
left behind in the shadows, I find it amusing when a nau tasol Twenty something
tries to tell me about West Papua, please pikinini, I was fighting for West
Papua before you were even thought of and our fight wasn’t from behind the
safety of a keyboard". Abang Kitek.
*Cross posted with permission
https://www.facebook.com/smerton/posts/10205053620354827
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