The Vanuatu government has withdrawn from a Melanesian Spearhead Group Foreign Ministers delegation to Indonesia to discuss and visit West Papua.
The delegation was to arrive in Jakarta on Sunday for a four-day visit which stems from a resolution by the MSG to engage more closely with Jakarta over issues raised about extensive alleged human rights abuses in Indonesia's Papua region.
A decision on the formal bid for MSG membership by the West Papua National Coalition for Liberation was deferred pending the outcome of this visit.
However, Vanuatu's Foreign Minister Edward Natapei has pulled out of the visit because his government believes its scheduled programme shows that the mission is highly unlikely to achieve what MSG leaders wanted it to achieve.
MSG leaders had wanted to meet various West Papuan groups, including some leaders of pro-independence movements, in order to enhance its understanding of the WPNCL's membership bid.
However, the programme offered by Indonesia only provides for fleeting, restricted visits by the MSG Foreign Ministers to Papua and West Papua provinces, and visits to various projects in Bali and Jakarta.
Vanuatu's government says there is no point in visiting Bali or in going ahead with the entire visit if the MSG is unable to meet with the right people.
It's also taken exception to a Joint Statement prepared between the MSG Countries and Indonesia, saying it fails to mention the purpose of the visit or anything to do with the plight of West Papuans.