Poisoned Arrows

This book is an account of 2 journalists' travels in West Papua with the aim of unveiling the truth about the Indonesian government's transmigration policies, human rights abuses and the OPM guerilla movement. Much of their findings confirm what had been published in other books or media sources earlier, though they do add the interesting fact that the OPM themselves are partly responsible for forcing West Papuan refugees to PNG.But while this book may not add much to one's knowledge to the politics of this troubled land, it does remain one of the best travelogues about Papua, for in addition to the usual destinations like the Baliem Valley, the Asmat region and the Jayapura area, they also visit places usually ignored by travellers like the interior of Sorong, Midiptanah and transmigration settlements near Merauke and Arso.However, their conclusions reflect the situation as seen 20 years ago - many of the places described are rather different today.