Indonesia president supports plan to scale back troops in restive Papua

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said on Monday he supports plans to scale back the presence of troops in the eastern region of Papua, where the country’s military has been accused of human rights abuses in tackling a long-running independence movement.

Jokowi, as the president is known, said “the reduction of military troops in Papua is good, but we need to continue to be stern,” after appointing a new chief of armed forces.

Otherwise, he said, armed rebel groups will continue to operate there and “the problem will never end”.

It was unclear when and by how much the military presence in Papua would be scaled back.

Indonesia’s easternmost region of Papua has seen a long-simmering separatist movement, which has intensified in recent years. The military maintains a heavy presence in the impoverished region, and has been accused by activist groups of human rights abuses, which it denies.