OPM (Organisasi Papua Merdeka)

The Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) emerged in the 1960s in opposition to Indonesian administration of the western half of New Guinea, which had been transferred from Dutch to Indonesian control following the 1962 New York Agreement and the 1969 "Act of Free Choice." Papuan nationalists reject the legitimacy of that vote, in which roughly 1,000 hand-picked elders voted unanimously to remain with Indonesia, and view it as a coerced annexation.

OPM is not a single unified body but a loose label covering several political and armed factions operating across the highlands and lowlands of Papua. Its armed wing is generally referred to as the TPN-PB (Tentara Pembebasan Nasional Papua Barat), or West Papua National Liberation Army, which engages in low-intensity guerrilla warfare against the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) and police. Tactics have historically included raids on military posts, attacks on transmigrant settlers, and sabotage of infrastructure, including operations near the Grasberg mine area.

Diplomatically, OPM and allied civilian groups such as the United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP), founded in 2014 and led by Benny Wenda, have lobbied at the Pacific Islands Forum, the Melanesian Spearhead Group, and the UN Human Rights Council. Vanuatu and Solomon Islands have repeatedly raised West Papua at the UN General Assembly; Indonesia treats the territory as a strictly domestic matter and rejects internationalisation.

The conflict has escalated since around 2018, with the kidnapping of New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens in February 2023 drawing renewed global attention. Human rights organisations including Amnesty International have documented civilian casualties and large-scale internal displacement, particularly in Nduga, Intan Jaya, and Maybrat regencies. Indonesian authorities formally designate the armed wing as a terrorist organisation, a label applied in April 2021 under Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD.