Armed conflict in West Papua has caused a mass departure of displaced people into remote parts of neighbouring Papua New Guinea’s West Sepik Province.
The conflict is in the Indonesian-administered Bintang Mountains regency, where state forces are pursuing West Papua Liberation Army fighters who they blame for recent attacks on health workers.
Hundreds of people have fled across to Tumolbil in Yapsie sub-district of West Sepik, situated right on the border.
With this situation at hand, the PNG Defense Force will despatch a small unit of soldiers to the remote border area.
PNG's Defence Force Commander, Gilbert Toropo, said that 11 soldiers would go to assess the situation in Tumolbil.
He said while he is yet to receive a detailed report, the soldiers will be finding out how many people have crossed over and whether Papuan rebel fighters or Indonesian soldiers are among them.
Commander Toropo says he is concerned that conflict in Indonesia could affect PNG citizens and wants the two governments to sit down and discuss a way forward.
A teacher in Yapsie, Paul Alp, said he saw evidence of the influx in Tumolbil last week.
He and others in the remote district confirmed that illegal border crossings have occurred for years, but that it had increased sharply since last month.
For decades, the PNG government's policy on refugees from West Papua has been to place them in border camps, the main one being at East Awin in Western Province, with support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Thousands of displaced Papuan have ended up at East Awin, but many others who come across simply melt into the general populace among various remote villages along the porous border region.