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124Islam, Democracy and Human Rights in Contemporary Indonesiathe last five years, the central government also went throughsubstantial fiscal decentralization to directly support theacceleration of development in Papua. Papua is also one of theeconomic corridors in the Master Plan of EconomicDevelopment Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia. Papuan management with a heart is therefore the key toall the steps to achieve the successful development of the easterngate of Indonesia.The President%u2019s remarks appear to be the mantra foraddressing the complexity of socioeconomic and politicalproblems in Papua.Ironically, the last few weeks saw continuing social tensionsprevail in Papua. The tension began after Aug. 2, 2011, whenabout 1,000 people in Jayapura took to the streets to show theirsupport for a conference of International Lawyers for WestPapua (ILWP) in London, which was pursuing a referendumfor independence in Papua. The latest shock came when the third Papuan People%u2019s Congresswas held in Abepura district in Jayapura on Oct. 17%u201319, 2011, whichmarked a start to a series of killings that claimed several lives. The police broke up the congress after participants reportedlyraised the outlawed Morning Star flag, a symbol of Papuanindependence, and declared an independent West Papua state.These events were indeed a display of local Papuans%u2019disappointment with the implementation of the Law on SpecialAutonomy. After a decade of special autonomy, poverty,corruption, unemployment, and poor infrastructure haveremained unaddressed. The autonomy has greatly succeededin changing the socioeconomic gap between Papuans andmigrants to the disparity between indigenous Papuans.

