The words “Papua merdeka!” capture the aspirations of West Papuans for self determination and independence.

The words “Papua merdeka!” capture the aspirations of West Papuans for self determination and independence.
“We came here to ask for justice.”
Why the revolution–and the people’s army–in the Philippines has lasted all these years.
Despite a promise of change, indigenous Lumad killings in the Philippines continue.
In the southern Philippine town of Tampakan, the B’laan people are waging a war against large-scale gold and copper mining.
Read on to know why, for national minorities in the Philippines, there is still a long way to go in achieving self determination.
Indigenous Peoples are marching in protest in the Philippines, and here’s why.
The year 1997 was supposedly a landmark year for indigenous peoples in the Philippines with the passage Republic Act (RA) 8371, or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act (IPRA). Many hailed it as an enlightened law that will help ensure the self- determination of the indigenous peoples in the country.
The Indonesian government, it seems, does not give up quite so easily.
When Philippine President Benigno Aquino III assumed power in 2010, he promised to stop extrajudicial killings in the country. Six years later, with his term ending, he has yet to live up to his promise. Aquino won the presidency on an anti-corruption platform and a call for change and development. His mother, Corazon Aquino, was also the country’s president from 1986 to 1992. Aquino has been described by critics as an inept landlord president whose policies are elitist due to his insensitivity to the plights of his countrymen and women.