Land and the Feeling of Safety
Robin pointed out he was not part of the refugees from Indonesian Papua who had come to PNG in the refugee wave in 1984.
Many forests in the Papua region of Indonesia, which are on the border with Papua New Guinea, have been cleared for agarwood cultivation.
"Sure, I\'m Indonesian," said Robin Moken, an advisor to the government of Papua New Guinea’s Western Province whom I met in Kiunga. A high-ranking PNG official had identified himself as Indonesian. That surprised me.
Robin\'s father hailed from across the border, namely Papua, Indonesia, and lived at a time when the Netherlands and Australia were in power in Papua. Robin\'s father wanted to become an Australian citizen, so he crossed to the border to the east. Robin was born in 1960 in PNG territory, before PNG became independent in 1975, so he automatically got PNG citizenship.