Lord Harries of Pentregarth – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Lord Harries of Pentregarth on 2015-11-09.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of whether reporters are now allowed to enter West Papua; and if not, what representations they are making to the government of Indonesia to allow access to the press.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns

We welcome the Indonesian government’s commitment to improving the situation in the Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua. This includes President Joko Widodo’s visit in May, when he granted clemency to a number of prisoners and announced the lifting of travel restrictions for foreign journalists. Since May, a number of foreign journalists have successfully visited and reported from Papua and West Papua.