AT LEAST 27 West Papuans have been shot dead and dozens more injured by Indonesian occupying forces as they intensified efforts to crush the growing movement for independence.

The attacks came as more than 2,000 West Papuan high-school students from across Indonesia returned to their homeland in a “mass exodus” protest in support of freedom for West Papua.

The death toll could well be higher, according to reports as the Star went to press, as details of the massacre emerged.

It appears that on Monday the students marched to the local government building in the regional capital Wamena to demand action be taken against a teacher who had racially abused them, something police claimed was “a hoax.”

On their arrival they were fired upon by Indonesian military forces and a number of schoolchildren were killed and injured. Buildings were set on fire and some people were trapped and burned to death.

Later that afternoon students in the provincial capital Jayapura occupied the University of Cendrawasih and locked the gates to the campus. They soon found themselves surrounded by the armed forces, police and intelligence services. The students were then escorted to nearby Waene under a deal struck with the authorities.

But on their way their convoy was set upon by nationalist militia members who opened fire on the students. According to eyewitnesses they were permitted to operate freely by the police, armed forces and intelligence services.

Chairman of the United Liberation Movement for West Papua Benny Wenda said that the situation is worsening, warning that West Papua is becoming “the next East Timor”  — where thousands were slaughtered by Indonesian forces during decades of suppression before independence was achieved in 2002.

“Sixteen thousand additional Indonesian troops have now been deployed to bring violence to West Papua, working with the new nationalist militias. How long does the world need to watch my people being slaughtered like animals before they intervene? Fifty-seven years of this is enough,” Mr Wenda said.

Earlier this year Indonesia was accused of using chemical weapons as it attacked West Papuan villages, driving thousands from their homes. The latest uprising follows a month of mass demonstrations against the Indonesian occupation.

Indonesia annexed West Papua in the 1969 Act of Free Choice, after just 1,022 residents were allowed to vote, doing so at gunpoint and coerced into voting in favour of the move.

Since then campaigners have pressed for independence, with the ULMWP pressing for a referendum on the issue as the only way to peacefully resolve the situation.