27/07/2026
MSG Presses UN Human Rights Council to Advance Long-Standing Call for West Papua Visit
Geneva| 25 July 2026: The Melanesian Spearhead Group (MSG) Secretariat has formally presented Pacific and MSG leaders' call for a United Nations human rights mission to West Papua and Indonesia's Papuan provinces during the 19th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva.
The presentation sought to advance a long-standing request by Pacific leaders for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to visit the region. The call was first endorsed by Pacific Islands Forum leaders in 2019, reaffirmed by MSG leaders at their 2023 summit in Port Vila, and repeated by both the Pacific Islands Forum and MSG during leaders' meetings in 2025.
EMRIP is an advisory body of the UN Human Rights Council that provides expert guidance on the implementation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Acting Director General Ilan Kiloe said the Geneva engagement marked an important step in implementing decisions made by Pacific and Melanesian leaders.
"It is a small but significant step towards the implementation of the leaders' decision to advance the voices of Melanesian peoples on the international stage and demonstrates the organisation's strong commitment to promoting justice, human rights and the rights of Indigenous Peoples," Kiloe said.
He added that the Secretariat would continue building on its advocacy for Indigenous rights following its engagement in the International Court of Justice's advisory opinion process on states' obligations relating to climate change.
During the Geneva mission, the MSG delegation also held meetings with senior UN officials and experts, including representatives of EMRIP, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), UN treaty bodies, the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Peoples and the UN Youth Office.
The visit concluded with a briefing for MSG ambassadors and permanent representatives to the United Nations in Geneva, hosted by Vanuatu's Ambassador, Sylvain Kalsakau, at the Pacific Islands Forum Permanent Mission.
Indonesia maintains that Papua is an integral part of the country and has consistently stated that it is committed to development and protecting the rights of all its citizens. Calls by Pacific leaders for a UN human rights visit remain under discussion within UN human rights mechanisms.
ππΈ: Acting Director General Ilan Kiloe, MSG Secretariat team, and MSG Ambassadors during the Geneva briefing hosted at the PIF Permanent Mission. MSG Secretariat
