New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens released by Papua rebels after 19 months

New Zealand pilot Phillip Mehrtens has been released by separatist rebels in Indonesia’s restive Papua region, 19 months after his kidnapping. Mehrtens had been held captive since February 2023.

The New Zealand government said that Phillip Mehrtens, taken hostage in Papua, Indonesia, is now safe.

Mehrtens was taken hostage while working as a pilot at a remote airstrip in Paro, Papua on February 7, 2023.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters in a statement expressed his relief at the release of Mehrtens and said, “We are pleased and relieved to confirm that Phillip Mehrtens is safe and well and has been able to talk with his family.”

He added, “This news must be an enormous relief for his friends and loved ones.”

The Foreign Minister further said that for the last 19 and a half months, a wide range of government agencies worked with Indonesian authorities and others towards securing Mehrtens’ release.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, with staff in both Indonesia and Wellington, has led a sustained whole-of-government effort to secure Phillip Mehrtens’ release, and has also been supporting his family,” Peters said.

Mehrtens of Christchurch, a pilot for Indonesian aviation company Susi Air, was abducted by fighters from the West Papua Liberation Army, the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement, who stormed his single-engine plane shortly after it landed on a small runway in Paro in remote Nduga district.

The plane carried five passengers. The rebels had released all five passengers because they were indigenous Papuans, rebel spokesperson Sebby Sambom had said at the time.

The separatist fighters had released a series of photos in February 2023 showing Mehrtens.

The photos released showed the pilot, standing fully clothed and apparently uninjured among a group of fighters who were holding guns, bows and arrows and other weapons.