Stalled attempts to negotiate his release, and an unsuccessful Indonesian military rescue attempt, suggest a confused picture behind the scenes. Members of the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) kidnapped Mehrtens on February 7, demanding Indonesia recognise West Papua’s independence. The TPNPB is one of a small number of armed pro-independence groups in West Papua, each aligned with a faction of the Free West Papua movement. The West Papua independence movement grew out of Dutch plans to give West Papua independence. As a result of Indonesians moving to this “frontier”, more than 40 percent of West Papua’s population is now non-Melanesian.