As 2025 comes to an end, I would like to thank everyone who has supported a Free West Papua this year, whether through practical contributions or through their spirit.

2025 has been a year of even further escalation in West Papua, as Indonesia has stepped up its campaign of repression and ecocidal development. Our people have suffered massacres in Intan Jaya, Puncak, Kiwirok, Oksibil, Maybrat, and elsewhere. Our land continues to be plundered for Indonesian and corporate profit: Merauke is now home to the largest deforestation project in human history, destroying an area of mangrove forest the size of Belgium. More than 80,000 occupying security forces, 56,000 soldiers and 26,000 police, are currently posted across West Papua’s towns and villages. The result has been a huge increase in both military operations and subsequent internal displacement. While around 80,000 West Papuans were displaced at the beginning of the year, the number of Indigenous refugees is now over 100,000.

Yet we remain strong, our spirit unbroken, and utterly determined to win back our stolen sovereign state. Our peaceful struggle is righteous, blessed by God and our ancestors. They are with us every day.

Despite all the obstacles laid out in front of us, from Indonesia’s military strength to its six-decade long ban on journalists and NGOs, our mission continues to progress. The ULMWP has made big strides forward this year, getting closer than ever to full MSG membership. We continue to advance our campaign for Indonesia to facilitate a visit to West Papua by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Over 110 Member States have now made this demand. And although we have been isolated for a long time, more and more people across the world are learning of our peaceful struggle.

Thank you to all our solidarity groups from around the world; I hope you keep West Papua in your prayers as you celebrate this Christmas. Thank you to the Free West Papua campaign teams in Netherlands, the UK, the United States, and particularly in the Pacific, who do the essential work of pushing our freedom struggle forward and making sure our cries for help are heard. We have few resources and no weapons: your voices are our weapons.

Thank you to the West Papua Council of Churches, the Pacific Council of Churches, and all religious and civil society organisations in the Pacific. Thank you to all Melanesian leaders and those working for West Papua at an intergovernmental level. Thank you to the International Lawyers for West Papua and the International Parliamentarians for West Papua, and of course, thank you to the people and government of Vanuatu, our Wantoks. You have always been our strongest supporters.

Finally, thank you to the ULMWP, the Executive and Legislative Council, and of course to the people of West Papua. To my people, I ask that you continue to stay strong and stand behind the ULMWP as we fight for your right to determine your future. 2025 has been a year of unity for our movement. I acknowledge and thank the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), represented by spokesperson Sebby Sambom and Chief of Staff Terianus Satto, for their endorsement of me as President of West Papua. Unity is what the occupiers fear most: there is no more powerful weapon against Indonesia than West Papuans standing together, calling for their freedom with one voice.

History tells us that no empire lasts forever. Just as Dutch colonialism ended in Indonesia, so too will Indonesian colonialism end in West Papua. As Nelson Mandela said, we are walking our long road to freedom. We have been walking this road for a long time now, but the finish line is in sight. Our dream of freedom will come.

God bless West Papua.

Benny Wenda
President
ULMWP