US miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc is evacuating spouses and children of workers from its giant Indonesian copper mine after a string of shootings in the area raised security concerns, company sources said as quoted by Reuters. Unidentified perpetrators shot at two vehicles in Freeport’s mining area in Tembagapura, Mimika, Papua, a month ago. Three years after President Joko Widodo swept to power, in part, on promises to ease historic tensions and “erase the stigma” of the country’s easternmost provinces, the region is once again convulsed by violence. Despite progress, many still favour separatism, no matter the cost, writes Jeffrey Hutton for South China Morning Post.