West Papua hardly ever makes the news in the country where I live, New Zealand. When it does, it is generally for unhappy reasons. As I was putting the finishing touches on my edit of Marthen Medlama’s manuscript, there was a report on our national radio station of seven young West Papuans being arrested on the very serious charge of treason for waving the Morning Star flag and for shouting in favour of West Papuan independence. As I listened, thanks to this book, I felt I understood.

We are in a phase of history where much of the world is acknowledging and atoning for the sins of colonialism. Yet parts of the world have not finished with colonising. For better or for worse — so far, for the West Papuans, for the worse — the Dutch territories on New Guinea Island were handed to Indonesia in a backroom deal brokered by the US in the 1960s. It can hardly be a coincidence that even before the ink was dry, American interests were joining with the Indonesian government to exploit the vast mineral resources of West Papua. So, while most former colonial powers are wringing their hands over their self-interested exploitation of their sometime colonies and the terrible harm done, they are turning a blind eye as the same wrong is perpetrated in the present day. It is past time for the world to start paying attention to what is happening in West Papua.