The Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA), in collaboration with the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC), the National Council of Chiefs, the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU) and other civil society groups, is organizing a peaceful march in Port …Peaceful March in Support of West Papuan Independence to Present Petition to Prime Minister on Lini Day Public Holiday

On the public holiday for Lini Day on Monday next week (the 22nd February), the Vanuatu Free West Papua Association (VFWPA), in collaboration with the Vanuatu Christian Council (VCC), the National Council of Chiefs, the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU) and other civil society groups, is organizing a peaceful march in Port Vila to demonstrate the continued support of the people of Vanuatu for the independence of West Papua and to present a petition to the Prime Minister and the Government of Vanuatu urging greater Government support for West Papuan independence.

The VFWPA, which elected a new Executive last month, has been working closely with the VCC and other civil society representatives to raise awareness through church networks about this march, which will be the first time in many years that a public rally in support of the West Papua cause has been staged in the capital. The other partners in the march and petition include the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions (VCTU), which is urging all union members to participate, and the National Council of Chiefs.

The march will start at Chantilly’s on Fatumaru Bay at 9am on Monday the 22nd, and will march to the Seafront Stage, where the Prime Minister will receive the petition. Members of the stakeholder organisations which are co-sponsoring the action, and members of the general public, are invited to assemble at Fatumaru Bay by 8am on Monday the 22nd, which is the public holiday for Lini Day. The march is being held on Lini Day in recognition of the late Father Walter Lini’s famous statement that “So long as any Pacific Islands remain colonized, none of us is free”.