Pacific NGOs want West Papua mission

Pacific civil society groups are adding their weight to a call for a Pacific Islands Forum mission to the Indonesian region of West Papua.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua recently asked that a fact-finding mission be sent to to investigate allegations of human rights abuses.

Civil societies and non-governmental organisations have met in Port Moresby before the Forum Leaders summit next week.

Emele Duituturaga from the Pacific Islands Association of NGOs, or PIANGO, says the two main issues the group wants Forum leaders to address are climate change and West Papua.

Ms Duituturaga says the group wants an international binding agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

She says the time has also come to look at West Papua.

"We have information directly from West Papua of the human rights violation atrocities. Yes, we know that this is being questioned. This is also why we are calling for a fact-finding mission into those human rights violations. This is quite urgent."

United Liberation Movement for West Papua was recently granted observer status at the Melanesian Spearhead Group sub-regional organisation.