Page "Foreign relations of Vanuatu" Paragraph 31

In June 2010, the Parliament of Vanuatu unanimously gave its support to a motion-the Wantok Blong Yumi Bill-clarifying Vanuatu's foreign policy with regards to West Papuan independence claims from Indonesia.

The bill-tabled by Independent MP Ralph Regenvanu and supported by Prime Minister Edward Natapei and opposition leader Maxime Carlot Korman-committed Vanuatu to recognising West Papua's independence ; to seeking observer status for West Papua in the Melanesian Spearhead Group and in the Pacific Islands Forum ; and to " request Nations General Assembly support for the International Court of Justice to provide an advisory opinion on the process in which the former Netherlands New Guinea was ceded to Indonesia in the 1960s ".