Support for state-backed development puts Church at odds with Indigenous Catholics defending ancestral land

By Ryan Dagur Published: April 20, 2026 06:12 AM GMT

For decades, the Catholic Church has presented itself as a moral ally of Indigenous peoples.

From Laudato Si’, in which Pope Francis defended ancestral lands, to Vatican endorsements of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the Church has framed the protection of Indigenous communities as a matter of justice, dignity and faith.

That global moral posture makes what is now unfolding in Papua deeply unsettling.

In Indonesia’s easternmost region, a senior Catholic leader is facing fierce opposition from his own congregation for supporting a government-backed food mega-project that threatens Indigenous land.

The controversy erupted after Archbishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Merauke warned that Catholics protesting the project would “perish.” His comment ignited outrage among Papuan Catholics and exposed a profound contradiction between the Church’s teachings and its actions on the ground.

In Papua — a region long scarred by land dispossession, militarization and resource extraction — the Church’s stance is never merely theological. It is political, moral and deeply consequential.

Mandagi’s words force an unavoidable question: Will the Church in Papua live up to its global teachings by standing with Indigenous communities defending their ancestral land, or will it align itself with state power and corporate interests under the banner of development and food security?

The archbishop’s remarks were delivered during a church inauguration Mass on April 6, in response to peaceful weekly protests led by lay Catholics opposing his support for a massive food estate designated by Jakarta as a national strategic project.

“God destroys those who do not respect places of worship,” Mandagi told them.

For many Papuan Catholics, the statement felt less like spiritual guidance than a threat — one issued from the pulpit against those invoking their faith to defend their land and livelihoods.

The backlash was immediate. Expressions of pain and anger flooded social media as lay Catholics accused the archbishop of silencing dissent rather than shepherding his flock.

Yet the furor did not arise overnight. Since 2024, Mandagi’s vocal endorsement of the project has prompted sustained protests demanding that he withdraw his support and apologize.

Rather than easing tensions, his latest remarks have widened the rift, transforming internal disagreement into an open moral confrontation.

At the heart of the dispute is a government food project that aims to clear up to 3 million hectares of land in Merauke — two-thirds for sugarcane and the rest for rice. The administration of Prabowo Subianto has presented the initiative as essential to Indonesia’s food sovereignty.

But the land is far from empty. It is the ancestral territory of the Malind, Maklew, Khimaima and Yei peoples — forested wetlands where life depends on sago groves, rivers and seasonal hunting.

More than 50,000 Indigenous residents across 40 villages are expected to be affected. Deforestation is already underway. By the end of 2025, nearly 6,000 hectares had been cleared for rice cultivation, while sugarcane plantations destroyed more than 15,000 hectares in early 2026 alone.

Each hectare lost represents not only environmental damage but also the erosion of Indigenous food systems, culture and collective memory.

While urban Catholic youth stage demonstrations inside churches, Indigenous communities have mounted their own form of resistance.

Across Merauke, villagers have planted red crosses — salib merah — on land earmarked for clearing, asserting ownership and erecting a spiritual barrier against destruction.

The symbolism is striking: Catholic imagery deployed by Indigenous people themselves, yet without the backing of the Church’s hierarchy.

Rather than listening to these concerns, Mandagi has suggested that protesters are being manipulated by vested interests. What has been conspicuously absent is any public acknowledgment of the harm the project poses to his own congregants.

His background — he is not Papuan, but from North Sulawesi — has further fueled criticism, prompting growing calls for the Vatican to appoint an Indigenous Papuan archbishop.

These demands are not merely symbolic. In recent years, Papuan-born bishops have emerged as some of the strongest moral voices opposing land grabs and militarization.

Bishop Bernardus Bofitwos Baru of Timika, for example, has repeatedly described food estate projects as existential threats to Indigenous communities. 

His stance aligns closely with Papua’s Protestant churches, which have long opposed land dispossession. In February, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia — which includes 105 denominations — formally condemned land seizures carried out in the name of food security at the conclusion of its assembly session in Merauke.

The controversy also recalls the failure of an earlier mega-project: the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate, launched in 2010 and eventually abandoned after widespread displacement and ecological damage.

At the time, under Archbishop Nicolaus Adi Seputra, the archdiocese’s Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation office actively supported community resistance.

The contrast with Mandagi’s leadership is stark. Shortly after his appointment, in January 2021, he signed a memorandum of understanding with a palm oil company linked to the controversial Korindo Group to renovate a seminary — without meaningful consultation with local communities.

The dangers posed by the current project extend far beyond land loss.

In 2025, Indonesia’s National Human Rights Commission identified at least five areas of concern: land rights, environmental health, food security, participation in decision-making and personal security.

Militarization is the most acute threat. Troops have been deployed to secure project sites, with military posts established near Indigenous villages.

In 2025, a battalion was stationed inside a company concession on the ancestral land of the Kwipalo clan from the Yei tribal group without consent. When villagers blocked excavators, they faced police reports and threats of criminal charges.

The United Nations has also raised the alarm. In March 2025, nine UN special rapporteurs warned Indonesia of alleged land grabbing, forced evictions, deforestation and military repression linked to the project.

The pattern is familiar: sweeping promises of food security, land acquisition enforced by armed force and the displacement of Indigenous peoples — echoing colonial plantation models rather than participatory development.

It is here that the Church in Papua stands at a crossroads.

One path prioritizes harmony with state power, reframes Indigenous resistance as disorder and recasts dispossession as progress — risking the erosion of decades of moral authority.

The other is grounded in Catholic social teaching: standing with communities whose land, culture and survival are under threat.

The Papuan Catholics who protest week after week are not enemies of the Church. They are its conscience

The question is whether the Church hierarchy will heed that call — or allow the words uttered from the pulpit to define its legacy.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 15 April 2026 

In the forests and villages of Merauke Regency, South Papua Province, a quiet but intensifying crisis is unfolding. Indonesia’s National Strategic Project (Proyek Strategis Nasional, or PSN), an ambitious state-backed programme encompassing rice field development, a 135-kilometre access road, sugarcane plantations for bioethanol, and food self-sufficiency schemes, is colliding with the lives, lands, and rights of the Malind and other indigenous Papuan groups who have inhabited this region for generations.

Since late 2024, a growing body of evidence has documented serious procedural violations, the dismantling of indigenous land rights, incidents of violence against community members who resist, and the systematic exclusion of affected communities from decision-making processes. Legal challenges are now working their way through the Indonesian courts, while civil society organisations, churches, and human rights advocates have raised increasingly urgent calls for the government to halt the project and respect its obligations under national and international law.

The situation in Merauke is a stark illustration of the human costs of large-scale development projects that are pursued without adequate legal safeguards, meaningful community participation, or respect for indigenous rights. The communities who have lived in and stewarded these forests for generations are not opposed to development as such; they are opposed to development that destroys their homes, eliminates their food sources, and is imposed upon them without consultation or consent.

This article summarises the key developments from early 2026 and sets out the principal human rights concerns arising from the implementation of the PSN in Merauke.

Background: What is the Merauke PSN?

The Merauke PSN is a cluster of large-scale development programmes formally designated as National Strategic Projects under the administration of President Prabowo Subianto for the 2024–2029 term. The centrepiece is the construction of a 135-kilometre road connecting Wanam Village in Ilwayab District to Selauw Village in Muting District, intended to serve as infrastructure for a food and energy security programme.

The PSN includes a rice field development programme in Ilwayab District, implemented by Indonesia’s Ministry of Defence in collaboration with PT Jhonlin Group, a company owned by South Kalimantan entrepreneur Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad (widely known as Haji Isam). Other important components of the project are the sugarcane cultivation for bioethanol, a biogas project, and an agricultural land optimisation scheme. The programmes covers land in three regencies of south Papua Province, namely Merauke, Boven Digoel, and Mappi.

According to Suara Papua and Yamenadi, hundreds of excavators arrived at the Merauke port on 13 March 2026. (see video below, source: independent HRD) Reports suggest PT Jhonlin Group intends to bring additional of 2,000 excavators to the region to accelerate the programme. The scale of the operation signals the government’s determination to press forward regardless of ongoing legal challenges and community opposition.

Procedural violations: Building without a permit

One of the most legally significant findings to emerge from investigations by civil society groups is that the construction of the 135-kilometre road began approximately one year before the required environmental permit was issued.

According to the Merauke Solidarity legal advocacy team, land clearing for the road began in September 2024. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) decision (Merauke Regent’s Decree No. 100.3.3.2/1105/2025) was only issued in September 2025. This means that for roughly twelve months, construction proceeded without any valid environmental authorisation, a clear violation of Article 22(1) of Law No. 32 of 2009 on Environmental Protection and Management. Legal advocates argue that the permit effectively sought to retroactively legitimise activities that had already taken place illegally.

The Papua Human Rights Coalition, in a statement published on 18 March 2026, further noted that the absence of an EIA also means the project proceeded without a valid business licence, since under Article 24 of Law No. 6 of 2023 on Job Creation, the EIA serves as the mandatory basis for determining environmental feasibility prior to any licence being granted. The coalition argues that the project may therefore have violated Article 109 of the same law, which sets out environmental offences.

Advocates have also raised concerns about the financial implications of these procedural irregularities. According to the lawyers, the delayed issuance of the permit is suspected of being designed to allow state budget funds to reimburse private parties who had been financing construction costs. This practice raises potential corruption concerns. According to records from the Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation cited in the same report, land clearing had by that point covered 56 kilometres of the planned route.

Reclassification of 486,939 hectares forest without consent

In January 2026, further alarm was raised when two decisions issued by the Minister of Forestry (Decrees No. 591 and No. 430 of 2025) came to the attention of civil society groups. These decisions reclassify 486,939 hectares of forest area in South Papua Province as non-forest land, intended to support the national food, energy, and water self-sufficiency programmes.

Critically, the decisions were never made public. However, the Merauke Solidarity Advocacy team was able to obtain copies by filing a formal public information request, receiving the documents on 13 January 2026. The affected indigenous communities in Merauke and Boven Digoel Regencies were neither informed nor consulted. The communities’ formal administrative objection, filed on 10 February 2026.

The free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) principle ensures that indigenous communities be meaningfully consulted before decisions affecting their lands are made. It is not only enshrined in international human rights law, but also in Indonesian law, including Articles 43 and 44 of Law No. 2 of 2021 on Special Autonomy, Article 6 of Law No. 39 of 1999 on Human Rights, and Constitutional Court Decision No. 35/PUU-X/2012, which confirms that customary forests are not state forests.

The consequences for affected communities are profound. Among those acutely affected is the Wambon Kenemopte tribe of Boven Digoel, whose eight clans had submitted a formal application for recognition of their customary forest as early as September 2023, with assistance from the Pusaka Foundation. While they were still working to fulfil the documentation requirements requested by the Ministry of Forestry, the Minister issued the reclassification decree, changing the status of their forest to non-forest land earmarked for oil palm cultivation.

On 10 February 2026, twelve representatives of indigenous communities from Boven Digoel and Merauke lodged a formal administrative appeal against the two ministerial decisions, demanding their revocation and calling for concrete steps towards the recognition of indigenous Papuan land rights.

Violence against the Kamuyen Clan: A community under attack

Among the most disturbing developments in early 2026 have been the attacks on Esau Kamuyen, head of the Kamuyen clan in Nakias Village, Ngguti District, and his family. The Kamuyen clan is one of several clans in Merauke whose customary land falls within the planned route of the 135-kilometre road. Unlike some neighbouring clans, Esau Kamuyen has consistently refused to relinquish his community’s land.

As far back as 8 October 2025, the Kamuyen clan erected red crosses on their territory as a traditional symbol of prohibition (see photo on top, source: independent HRD), blocking access to their customary land and demanding a halt to all activities by PT Jhonlin Group, which had already begun clearing the forest. According to investigations by LBH Papua Merauke, the clan’s forest had been forcibly cleared by contractors despite their explicit objections.

The attacks on the family began on 23 January 2026. A group of people reportedly set fire to a temporary forest shelter used as a resting place (see top left photo below, source: independent HRD). Mr Norton Kamuyen, was struck with the blunt side of a machete and threatened. The following night, on 24 January, a larger group, believed to include residents from Yodom Village and Nakias Village, mounted a more serious attack on Mr Esau Kamuyen’s home. The attackers were armed with axes, machetes, spears, arrows, and air rifles. Arrows and spears were fired at the house; one spear became lodged in the wall.

Outnumbered, Mr Kamuyen and his family fled their home to seek refuge in another village. The attackers entered the house, ransacked and damaged household property, and stole the motorbike (see photos above, source: independent HRD). The motorcycle was later found in another village. The violence was followed by threats of further assault and murder delivered via text messages, as well as a written declaration from several customary leaders affiliated with the attacking group threatening further action if authorities and other parties did not meet their demands within 72 hours.

Solidarity Merauke’s investigations suggest the attackers are residents from four villages who hold opposing views to the Kamuyen clan on the question of releasing customary land for the road construction. Civil society groups attribute the violence directly to the pressures generated by the PSN and the approaches taken by the project’s implementers to secure land access.

On 14 February 2026, accompanied by LBH Papua Merauke, Mr Esau Kamuyen formally filed a police report (reference number LP/B/39/II/2026/SPKT/Res Merauke/Polda Papua). However, the intimidations did not end there. On 3 March 2026, members of the Kamuyen clan patrolling their territory discovered that the red crosses had been removed by unknown persons and replaced with a piece of wood wrapped in yellow palm fronds resembling a traditional ritual object from the Marind community. LBH Papua Merauke characterised this act as part of a systematic effort to undermine the Kamuyen clan’s resistance and provoke intra-community conflict.

Legal challenges

Following the mounting pressure, indigenous communities and their legal representatives have pursued an active legal strategy, filing challenges at multiple levels of Indonesia’s administrative and judicial system. On 5 March 2026, five representatives of the Malind indigenous community filed a lawsuit at the Administrative Court (PTUN) in Jayapura, formally challenging the environmental feasibility permit for the 135-kilometre road. The plaintiffs represent the Balagaize, Mahuze, Moyuwend, Basik-Basik, and Gebze clans. The case is registered under number 9/G/LH/2026/PTUN Jayapura.

The filing was accompanied by a solidarity demonstration at the court in Jayapura’s Waena district, where the plaintiffs were joined by students and civil society representatives. Before entering the court building, the plaintiffs held a traditional prayer ceremony during which they daubed their bodies in white clay as a symbol of grief over the destruction of their ancestral forests.

The first hearing took place on 31 March 2026.  A second hearing followed on 14 April 2026, at which judges requested amendments and clarifications to the lawsuit, including strengthening arguments around climate change impacts. The road construction was confirmed to still be ongoing at the time of the hearings. A next hearing was scheduled for 21 April 2026. The Papua Human Rights Coalition, in a statement published 18 March 2026, urged President Prabowo and the Minister of Defence to halt all construction pending the court’s ruling on environmental feasibility.

At the national level, civil society groups have also initiated a judicial review at the Constitutional Court (Mahkamah Konstitusi), challenging provisions in the Job Creation Law that facilitate PSN designation and implementation.

Voices of resistance: Church, civil society, and indigenous communities

The resistance to the Merauke PSN has drawn support from a broad coalition of actors beyond the directly affected communities. In late January and early February 2026, the Indonesian Council of Churches (PGI) held its Full Workers’ Council (MPL) session in Merauke, providing a prominent platform for community voices. Following the session, PGI General Chair Rev Jacklevyn Manuputty issued a statement strongly condemning military expansion and PSN implementation in Papua, describing these as tools of state oppression and a continuation of internal colonialism. The PGI further called for an end to militarism and authoritarianism, and urged President Prabowo to engage in dialogue with affected communities.

LBH Papua Merauke and the Merauke Solidarity Group welcomed the PGI statement, calling on President Prabowo to halt the PSN and withdraw security forces from project sites in Wanam and other locations, noting that the presence of armed TNI personnel has generated fear among communities already under pressure.