Larius Kogoya, Jayapura – Lince Ronsumbre, a two -year-old baby, and Lince Kafiar, a sick grandmother, were rushed to the Abepura Regional General Hospital (RSUD) on Thursday November 15 after suffering the effects of teargas.
The teargas was fired by security forces to disperse a peaceful action by the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) rejecting the transmigration program to Papua at the Abepura traffic circle in Jayapura city, Papua.
When security forces released the tear gas, local residents who were not involved in the action were exposed to the teargas bursts, and they deplored the situation. Residents who met with Jubi appeared angry with the security forces.
The teargas spread to residential areas around the Abepura area. Residents' houses was filled with teargas fumes, which left them with sore and stinging eyes and difficulty breathing. Some residents tried to splash water on their faces to get rid of the pain in their eyes.
One of the residents who lives near the Abepura traffic circle, Rikardo Ronsumbre, said his house was filled with teargas fumes. He said he regretted that security forces who fired the teargas were not more careful, bearing in mind that there are many residents, children and elderly people who are vulnerable living near the location of the action.
"This was my mother, Lince Kafiar, who is old and has other underlying illnesses, Mama was short of breath. Fortunately, she was quickly taken to hospital and was dealt with quickly. His grandchild too, Lince Ronsumbre was taken to the hospital but has now returned home", said Ronsumbre.
Ronsumbre explained that the teargas fumes filled the residential area, hurt their eyes and made it difficult to breathe. Residents even fought over water to wash their stinging and sore eyes. Others rushed out of their houses because there was too much smoke inside.
"There was a daughter who said 'father I can't breathe I'm half dead'. Fortunately, there was an older sister who brought water into the house and washed the daughter's [eyes]", continued Ronsumbre.
According to Ronsumbre, because this is a democratic country, everyone is allowed to and has the right to convey an opinion in public or express their aspirations, providing it is done in a peaceful manner, moreover this is guaranteed by the law.
"The police's job is just to provide security, but I think this was excessive, firing teargas indiscriminately so local residents here were mostly effected... (because the police) fired [teargas] all over the place", he said.
He regretted that the demonstration that ended in chaos even though the action should have proceeded peacefully if it was properly monitored.
"The demonstrators didn't bring instruments of war, sharp instruments, they only conveyed their aspirations, right. It's the security forces who have weapons, teargas, water cannon, so I think this was dealt with very excessively", he said.
Another resident, Mama Linda Imbiri, said she also saw that the way the security forces dealt with the KNPB mass action was too excessive. "I saw the excessive handling by security forces because residents in the vicinity were affected by the teargas", she said.
Imbiri said she is annoyed because there was a lot of teargas so her residential area was filled with teargas fumes that entered the houses. "This made many people's eyes sore, especially the children and elderly, I'm really sorry for them", she continued.
"I ask the Kapolda [regional police chief], the Kapolsek [sectoral police chief], the Kapolresta [municipal police chief] to reprimand their subordinates so they don't just act as they please. Because there are many residents in this place, its not an empty place, so if you fire teargas, don't overdo it, just what's sufficient. Because the kids demonstrating didn't have weapons like that, surely they would have run away, it's impossible they would have stood their ground", she said with regret.
- Video of police breaking up protest against transmigration in Jayapura posted on X by Veronica Koman: https://twitter.com/i/status/1857317046696198403
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Warga Kesal Terkena Dampak Gas Air Mata Aparat Keamanan Pasca Aksi KNPB".]
