THE honour of Freedom of Oxford could be given to the leader of a Far Eastern independence campaign if councillors agree tonight.

Benny Wenda leads the United Liberation Movement for West Papua – a territory on the island of New Guinea occupied by Indonesia. He has led his campaign from Oxford since fleeing his home country with his family in 2002.

He would join globally respected figures such as Nelson Mandela, Sir Roger Bannister and Lord Nuffield if councillors agree he should be given the honorary award.

Green Party group leader, Craig Simmons, said it was ‘good timing’, coming just a few days after Vanuatu brought the plight of the West Papaun people to the UN Human Rights Council last week.

Mr Wenda was granted political asylum in Oxford and lives in Marston.

In his time in the UK, he has taken his fight to the top of the UK government. He has quizzed former foreign secretary Jack Straw and previously wrote to late Secretary-General of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.

West Papuans were given a vote in 1969 on whether to choose independence or become part of Indonesia. But UN observers sent to oversee the election reported serious violations of an agreement between Indonesia and its former colonial rulers, the Netherlands.

As a young boy in 1977, Mr Wenda saw most of his family killed in an Indonesian Air Force bombing raid.

He spent his life campaigning for West Papuan independence until his arrest 16 years ago.

Suffering repeated beatings, he was locked up for a month in a jail cell too small to sit down in.

Mr Simmons, a friend of Mr Wenda, said: “The criteria for the Freedom of Oxford is that they have been a significant person in terms of their impact. We have given it to Nelson Mandela and people based in Oxford, like Colin Dexter, who had a global impact. Benny seems to fit well in that, and his family have grown up here.

“You wouldn’t go and bring something like this without having support. I’ve got that from Labour and the Libs Dems.”

Even if Mr Simmons’ motion is supported, there still needs to be another meeting to confirm the honour. At least two-thirds of the council must agree to the proposal at a second meeting.

Other figures who have been given the Freedom of Oxford include former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Clement Attlee, and Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig, the commander-in-chief of the British Army during the First World War.

Current leader of Myanmar (Burma), Aung San Suu Kyi, was awarded the Freedom of Oxford in December 1997. She was under house arrest at the time but later collected the award in June 2012. However, due to serious concerns over alleged human rights abuses, the council formally stripped her of the commendation last November.

The title is honorary and does not give recipients any rights other than to attend formal council meetings.

The last person to receive the Freedom of Oxford was Lesley Dewhurst, the current joint chief executive of mental health charity Restore, in 2016. She was previously in charge of Oxford Homeless Pathways.