Manokwari (Indonesia) (AFP)

The Indonesian province of Papua had Wednesday a third day of protests that have degenerated into clashes, pushing Jakarta to send some 1,200 military and police reinforcements.

The government has called for a return to calm in this poor province in the far east of the archipelago. The riots began Monday after the weekend arrest of 43 gentoo students and racist slurs against them.

A thousand people demonstrated on Wednesday in the streets of Timika (southern Papua), where an AFP journalist saw protesters throw stones at the windows of the local parliament and try to destroy the barrier giving access. The crowd was dispersed in this city only after police firing.

Several hundred protesters also marched through the streets of Sorong and FakFak towns in the west of the island.

Several cities in this commodity-rich region were paralyzed on Wednesday, including Manokwari, where stores and the local parliament were set on fire by rioters on Monday.

Several policemen were wounded, according to the authorities. Unconfirmed reports of injured demonstrators.

Some 900 policemen and 300 soldiers have been deployed in Manokwari and Sorong, said Wednesday the government and the authorities of Papua.

National Police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said the situation remained "globally under control", stating the police were not equipped with live ammunition.

Anger spread across Papua after news of Saturday's arrest of 43 gentoo students by police in Surabaya, the country's second-largest city on the island of Java.

Riot police raided a dormitory to dislodge Papuan students who had been accused of destroying an Indonesian flag on Independence Day in Indonesia. The police arrested and interrogated them before releasing them.

At the same time, a protest against the presence of Papuan students was organized during which racial abuse was made.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has promised an investigation into the incidents in Surabaya and is expected to visit the province soon.

The region, nriche in natural resources, knows a sporadic independence rebellion against the Indonesian government.

Papua declared itself independent in 1961, but Indonesia took control by force in 1963 and formally annexed it in 1969.

Many Papuans claim independence, like Papua New Guinea, another half of this big island that got it in 1975 after being an Australian colony.

© 2019 AFP