Protesters say Jakarta has not included Papuans in plans to form new provinces in the region and fear the reforms will be used as a pretext to tighten government control over the area.

Protests have sprung up across Papua and even in the country’s capital of Jakarta.

A rally attended by hundreds in the remote district of Yahukimo this morning began peacefully but turned violent as protesters started to attack shops near government offices and set buildings on fire, police said.

“Two people died and some officers were injured in the clash between protesters and authorities,” Papua police chief Mathius Fakhiri told a press conference today in Jayapura, the region’s capital.

Police are investigating the violence, he added, saying more security forces would be deployed to Yahukimo in response.

“We will take strict actions to punish the perpetrators,” he said.

Indonesia’s government said last year it was mulling the creation of six new provinces in the region – arguing the administration reforms were needed due to Papua’s vast size and to accelerate development.

Papua has been the scene of a decades-old rebel insurgency aimed at gaining independence from Indonesia, which took control of the former Dutch colony in the 1960s.

In 2019, at least 20 died in West Papua province during a clash between security forces and protesters following days of violent unrest to protest against racism towards Papuan students in the country’s second biggest city, Surabaya.