Two French documentary filmmakers have been arrested and jailed in West Papua for visa violations, underlining the tough approach Indonesian authorities still take to media scrutiny in the restive region.

The police chief of the Lanny Jaya area, senior commissioner Adolf Beay, confirmed that his officers had detained one journalist working in the Papuan highlands.

This file photo shows a West Papuan separatist carrying the banned Morning Star flag as he walks past a line of Indonesian riot police officers surrounding a pro-independence celebration in Jayapura, Irian Jaya. Credit:AP

''He was using a tourist visa but in fact he was doing journalistic work,'' Mr Beay said.

The French embassy in Jakarta later confirmed there were two journalists, Thomas Dandois and Valentine Bourrat, in custody in Jayapura.