Throughout 1984, over 10,000 Papuans from Indonesian Papua fled as refugees across the border into neighboring Papua New Guinea (PNG). The exodus had been caused by a crackdown by Indonesian authorities following a failed uprising in February 1984 by the Free Papua Movement in Jayapura, although many of the refugees originated south of the initial uprising.
The refugees initially suffered from a lack of aid from the Papua New Guinean government. Within several years, some refugees had been relocated to UNHCR camps, and some repatriated to Indonesian Papua, but a large number remained in unofficial border camps near the border. Since the fall of Suharto, more had repatriated and the PNG government had engaged in a naturalization program for the refugees, but almost 10,000 refugees remained in PNG.