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Civil society condemns government denial and calls for international intervention

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Human Rights News / Indonesia, UN on West Papua, West Papua / 2 July 2025 

In the past months, the situation surrounding the National Strategic Project (PSN) in Merauke, Papua Selatan Province, has further escalated. In the Soa Village, Tanah Miring District, indigenous women from 75 families have collectively opposed the land encroachment by PT. Global Papua Abadi, which received a government concession for an energy project without the community’s free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). This project threatens to destroy their natural sources of livelihood and violates their rights to land and self-determination. Similarly, on 23 June 2025, indigenous land belonging to the Kwipalo clan in Kakyo Village, Semangga District, was reportedly seized by the military for the construction of a post without consent or legal process, constituting a grave act of militarisation and forced dispossession.

Investigations by the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) in May and June 2025 revealed widespread violations across multiple districts in Merauke. These include forced evictions, destruction of sacred sites, and the complete disregard for FPIC principles. Indigenous communities, religious leaders, and civil society groups have united in protest, calling the PSN an instrument of structural injustice and ecocide. On 17 June 2025, the Indonesian Fellowship of Churches (PGI) condemned the PSN for violating indigenous rights, destroying ecosystems, and exacerbating the climate crisis.

In addition to public mobilisation and advocacy, a coalition of Indonesian civil society organisations (CSOs) issued a formal response to the joint communication of nine UN Special Rapporteurs dated 7 March 2025. The CSOs strongly criticised the Government of Indonesia’s reply of 6 May 2025 for denying ongoing and well-documented human rights and environmental violations related to the National Strategic Project (PSN) in Merauke. They noted that the government’s response ignored empirical evidence and failed to address the substantive issues raised by the UN experts, including land dispossession, militarisation, food insecurity, ecological destruction, and the lack of respect for FPIC principles

According to the CSOs, the government’s reply reflected a broader institutional reluctance to engage meaningfully with international human rights norms. They pointed out that the Indonesian state has failed to comply with recommendations made by Komnas HAM, as well as with constitutional and international legal standards safeguarding indigenous peoples’ rights. Furthermore, they underscored that permits and business licences had been granted to companies in areas with customary land claims, without community consent or proper consultation. The coalition urged the UN Special Rapporteurs to conduct direct monitoring in Merauke and called for the immediate suspension of PSN implementation to prevent the continued expansion of human rights and environmental violations.

The PSN’s implementation in Merauke reflects a deeper failure of democratic governance and environmental responsibility. It undermines constitutional protections and international legal obligations, particularly under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Indonesian government’s response to concerns raised by UN Special Rapporteurs has been criticised as evasive and dishonest. Indigenous leaders and civil society continue to demand the immediate suspension of all PSN activities, restoration of customary lands, adequate reparations, and a UN-led investigation. Without urgent corrective action, the PSN will inevitably destroy the ecological, cultural, and spiritual fabric of West Papua’s indigenous communities.

The military seized land belonging to the Kwipalo Clan in the Kakyo Village, Semangga District, without consent or legal process

 Planetary urbanisation: Why Indonesia destroys its green islands to ‘green’ cities elsewhere 

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Sediment is clearly visible close to nickel mining operations on Kawe Island, Raja Ampat, discolouring the water in one of Indonesia’s most biodiverse marine areas. The concession covers an area of 5,922 hectares and is located within the mega-biodiversity region of Raja Ampat, West Papua.

BY DWIYANTI KUSUMANINGRUM

26 JUNE 2025

This article is reproduced courtesy of University of Melbourne’s unit Indonesia at Melbourne

The controversy over nickel mining in Raja Ampat, Papua, is a telling example of how capitalist-driven planetary urbanisation is reshaping the world we live in.

Today, urbanisation occurs on a global scale. It is taking place not only within cities and urban areas but even in many non-city zones that serve as ‘operational landscapes’ for supplying cities’ demands. This concept of ‘planetary urbanisation’ explains how non-urban realms in the Global South have played a strategic role as operational landscapes supporting cities in the Global North.

Environmentally destructive nickel mining activities within the Raja Ampat UNESCO Global Geopark, a global tourism site widely known for its idyllic scenery and marine biodiversity, is a case in point. It shows how the current global demand for urban environmental sustainability has incentivised policymakers in the Global South to provide the materials needed for the cities in the North to be more sustainable.

It also tells the disturbing story of how Indonesia, in a nutshell, is willing to destroy its invaluable green islands for the sake of ‘greening’ cities in China and Europe.

Colonial origin of planetary urbanisation

Indonesia’s rich natural resources have been a source of vital global commodities since the colonial era. In the 15th century, high demand for commodities from Europe encouraged exploration in tropical countries, paving the way for colonialism. 

Resource exploitation by colonial powers played a critical role in the growth of cities in Indonesia and Europe, since the extraction from Indonesia funded the growth of the Netherlands and its cities. This is one of the first examples of planetary urbanisation — where the South was squeezed to provide for the North.

During colonial times, most Indonesian cities were basically just ‘operational landscapes’ of Dutch cities. By the late 18th century, for example, Makassar and Ternate were important cities in the global spice route and became hubs for the ‘local government’ of the VOC (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie, the Dutch East India Company). A similar trajectory also happened to Pangkalpinang, with its tin mining on Bangka Island, and Padang, a port city that supplied gold powder from the Minang kingdom.

The locations of Indonesia’s new ‘cities’ later expanded beyond those determined by geographical localities (resources sites). In the inland of Java, cities grew organically around train stations as a result of the expansion of transportation networks and the extensive exploitation of plantations in many different locations.

This process of planetary urbanisation continues today, as nickel becomes the latest commodity sought after by major cities in the northern hemisphere.

Nickel boom and resource nationalism

The global demand for renewables such as wind turbines, solar panels and EV batteries has fuelled excessive extraction of nickels in many countries including Indonesia, where more than half the world’s nickel supply is located. According to US Geological Survey, Indonesia has as many as 55.000.000 metric tons of nickel reserve.

Under former president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Indonesia introduced a series of policies aimed at downstreaming its nickel mining industry. These included banning  nickel ore export  and promoting domestic nickel processing industry.

However, this seemingly nationalistic policy is not necessarily beneficial for the Indonesian people. Scholars have argued that “resource nationalism” is in fact a pseudo-nationalism, because it is plagued by rent-seeking practices. A revealing Watchdoc investigative documentary has shown that the nickel industry in Indonesia largely benefits just a few mining oligarchs. To make matters worse, more than 90% of nickel processing infrastructure is owned by Chinese companies.

Nickel mining and environmental degradation 

Nickel mining activities in the eastern part of Indonesia are embodiments of ‘operational landscapes’ in ‘planetary urbanisation’. This is indicated by the spatial and social concentration of capital in the forms of infrastructural facilities and the influx of migrant workers, some of whom are from China, in the region.

Look at the private airports in the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and on Gag Island, Raja Ampat. At IMIP alone, there are 91,581 Indonesian workers and 11,615 foreign workers working in the industry. Or look at Teluk Weda’s smelters and port, which serves as a hub for vessels carrying nickels from small islands in the eastern part of Indonesia.

It remains to be seen, however, if these new ‘operational landscapes’ will eventually lead to the creation of new local cities as it was the case during colonial times, or if they will only destroy the environment in Indonesia to support cities in other countries.

The reality is that nickel mining sites are believed to have caused anthropogenic disasters (floods and landslides), and environmental degradation (air, land, and water pollutions), adversely affecting the local communities.

Floods in Morowali, for example, are attributed by many observers to IMIP industrial zones replacing local forest that previously served as a catchment area. In Teluk Weda, for example, Forest Watch Indonesia has found that the expansion of nickel industry encroaching into nearby forested areas has increased the flood risk in the surrounding areas.

In Obi Island, North Maluku, local media reported that mining activities had directly dumped their waste into the ocean. In Teluk Weda, nickel mining allegedly polluted  the river and groundwater, affecting the lives of the locals in Halmahera.

The Watchdoc documentary also emphasises the impact of the mining industry on Teluk Weda’s public health. Levels of the heavy metal arsenic have been detected in blood samples taken from residents, mining workers, and fishermen in the area. This demonstrates how the nickel mining industry can have fatal consequences.

Sustainable for whom? 

Capitalism can be cruel. Yet, there is no denying that capitalist-driven Dutch colonialism, which heavily relied on plantations, played a role in the making of major cities in Indonesia with less severe environmental degradation. The ongoing process of mining activities in eastern part of Indonesia seems much more ominous.

We need to ask who really benefits from the global campaign for’ sustainable development’. Of course Indonesia should tap this economic opportunity, but we cannot let it happen at the expense of our own natural habitat and our society’s wellbeing.

Indigenous Moi Tribe rejects massive palm oil project threatening last remaining forests in West Papua

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Human Rights News / Indonesia, West Papua / 26 June 2025 

The Indonesian government’s plan to implement a National Strategic Project (PSN) worth 24 trillion rupiah in the Papua Barat Daya Province has sparked resistance from indigenous communities. They understand the massive palm oil development as an existential threat to their ancestral lands and way of life. PT Fajar Surya Persada Group’s proposal, submitted to the Governor on 27 May 2025, seeks to establish an integrated palm oil-based food industry across 98,824.97 hectares covering key districts in Sorong and Tambrauw regencies. The project involves a consortium of five companies that would control vast swaths of traditional Moi territory, including PT Inti Kebun Sawit (18,425.78 hectares), PT Inti Kebun Sejahtera (307.91 hectares), PT Sorong Global Lestari (12,115.43 hectares), PT Omni Makmur Subur (40,000 hectares), and PT Graha Agrindo Nusantara (13,799.51 hectares).

The indigenous Moi Tribe has voiced resistance against what they describe as systematic land grabbing disguised as development. On 21 June 2025, Moi communities from 13 affected districts held traditional consultation meetings in the Klaso District, culminating in sacred oath-taking ceremonies (see photo on top, source: Suara Papua) and the planting of “Tui” bamboo poles, traditional symbols of prohibition and spiritual protection. Traditional leader, Dance Ulimpa declared that the Moi people “can live without palm oil, but cannot live without our customary forests,” emphasizing that these represent their last remaining forest territories. The communities have threatened to paralyze government offices in the provincial capital and the Sorong Regency if authorities accept the company’s application.

Evidence from existing palm oil operations in the region reveals devastating environmental and social impacts that fuel indigenous resistance. According to community testimonies, palm oil companies already operating in Sorong District have caused severe ecological damage, including pollution of the once-pristine Malalis and Klasof rivers where PT Hendrison Inti Persada and PT Inti Kebun Sejahtera operate. Traditional representative Desi Karongsan reported that the Klasof River now runs yellow and oily during rainy seasons, killing fish and causing skin rashes among children. Despite promises of economic benefits, only one Moi person reportedly works for the palm oil companies, while customary land is leased at exploitative rates of just 100,000 rupiah (approximately € 6.00) per hectare per month. The economic marginalization is so severe that some indigenous land is leased at only 6,000 rupiah per hectare, highlighting the gross inequality in benefit distribution.

Political resistance is building at multiple levels, with the West Papua Regional Parliament (DPRP) committing to draft regional regulations protecting indigenous rights and imposing a moratorium on palm oil expansion. A coalition of 18 organizations, including the Moi Great Tribe Council, Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), Greenpeace Indonesia, and various human rights groups, has formally rejected the PSN, arguing that despite Papua’s Special Autonomy Law intended to protect indigenous rights, communities continue facing poverty, displacement, and human rights violations. The coalition demands an immediate halt to all PSN activities that deprive indigenous communities of their ancestral land. The coalition calls for development policies that prioritize indigenous participation and environmental protection over corporate interests in what they describe as West Papua’s transformation into “a testing ground for greedy and reckless development.”

Is Marles the right fit for defence?

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Indonesia’s President-elect Prabowo Subianto, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at a joint statement at Parliament House in Canberra, Tuesday, August 20, 2024. Indonesian Defence Minister and President-elect Prabowo Subianto is visiting Australia from 19 to 20 August 2024

June 16, 2025               

P&I readers don’t need to be told that Defence Minister Richard Marles is floundering when trying to make security links with Indonesia seem as though they’ve “never been in better shape”.

Relationships could be basking on the sunny side in the interests of regional harmony, though the enthusiasm is partisan. As Professor Tim Lindsey reminded in this newsletter:

“To put it bluntly, Australia struggles to get Indonesia’s attention. It is an uncomfortable truth that… Australia’s leverage and importance is limited. Jakarta sees Canberra as the junior partner in the relationship.”

Readers can measure Lindsey’s academic appraisal against Marles’ bushy-tailed approach when viewing this short clip of his media conference in Jakarta earlier this month.

It appears that little of substance was achieved in the meeting with his Duntroon-trained counterpart, Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

The Australian’s job is to persuade the Indonesians to settle disputes through wearing out words before loading weapons. It can be a long and boring process but diplomacy can save lives.

The task will be tough because Marles, 57, is not from the warrior class. He was a lawyer and union official before entering Parliament.

Apart from titles, the two men have nothing in common – they can’t even talk cricket (an alien game in the Archipelago) or swill beer together as Muslim Sjafrie is a teetotaller. His ignorance of Australian values was made clear with the gauche gift of an Indonesian 9mm Pindad combat pistol.

Septuagenarian Sjafrie was a career soldier who served in the Kopassus Special Forces unit which has a reputation for ruthlessness. He became a lieutenant-general, a close mate since training days with President Prabowo Subianto who supplied his present job.

In the Indonesian political system, ministers can be hand-picked by the president from outside Parliament.

Prabowo is now replacing civilian functionaries with military men, raising comparisons to the last century doctrine of dwifungsi(dual function) “that allowed the armed forces to crush dissent and dominate public life”.

(Second President Soeharto, a former general and autocrat who ruled Indonesia for 32 years, was Prabowo’s model – and former father-in-law.)

The Indonesian media favours “retired” when referencing Sjafrie’s exit from his 36-year career. However, his Wikipedia entry claims he was “dismissed” from the military over allegations he was involved in the disappearance of 13 Jakarta student democracy activists – a charge he rejects.

His boss, Prabowo, was cashiered for the same 1998 offence and fled to exile in Jordan.

This month the Marles’ message to his homeland stressed geography and strategy to underline our neighbour’s importance; the first is elementary and the second an on-the-fly concept poorly articulated:

“You just need to look at the map to understand how strategically important Indonesia is to Australia, but how strategically important Australia can be to Indonesia. We really can help provide Indonesia with strategic depth.

“We have a security anxiety in relation to China that’s principally driven by the very significant conventional military build-up that China is engaging in… It does shape how we think about the strategic landscape.”

How Indonesia thinks wasn’t addressed. “We” must have referred to Oz and not the Marles-Sjafrie meeting and its unspecified “optimistic and ambitious bilateral agenda”.

Sjafrie was absent from the Marles’ media stand-up, probably fearing he might encounter a probing journo should he venture too close to a mike.

Not to explain the 20 honour ribbons layered down his uniform, including the Star of Peace Veteran awarded this year, but his behaviours while an ambitious young soldier putting down dissidents.

He was in East Timor during the 1991 Santa Cruz Cemetery massacre when at least 280 protesters against Indonesian occupation were shot and hundreds went missing. Sjafrie also served in Aceh and West Papua, fighting Indonesian citizens demanding independence.

When his army ties ended, he became the defence ministry secretary-general. In 2009 he was scheduled to accompany then president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on a trip to Pittsburgh for the G-20 summit.

In those days, the US took a moral stand on VIP visitors with suspect histories. It refused Sjafrie a visa, apparently because of alleged links to past atrocities in East Timor and Jakarta which he denies. He’s never faced a court

Marles has no similar reservations, so he has invited Sjafrie to Australia. He also wants Indonesian troops to train in Australia – though no dates have been set.

Whether this would attract Australian protesters concerned about human rights in Indonesia is doubtful. The lobby is overwhelmed with issues from Israel.

It’s small when compared with Aotearoa NZ where former politicians, Pacific Island NGOs, church leaders and academics regularly report alleged atrocities in the Republic – particularly the closed province of West Papua.

However much they may dislike members of other governments for their policies, personalities and actions, most diplomats tend to swallow hard in their dealings with unpalatable foreign leaders.

That’s why the sanctioning of two members of the Israeli Government, Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, is unusual when both nations are allies and democratic.

The far-right politicians’ assets have been frozen and travel bans imposed for reportedly advocating violence. The US is angry, but Oz has support from Canada, the UK and other nations.

Prabowo and Sjafrie won’t get the same treatment — their alleged crimes occurred long ago — and the damage to Australian-Indonesian relations today would be too great for any outbreak of principles.

The days of civilian seventh president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and Malcolm Turnbull’s jolly strolls around Sydney in 2017 are legendary.

In those times, relationships really were in better shape.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

Duncan Graham

Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java.

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Invitation to AWPA SA’s Annual AGM and Melanseian Feast

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Invites you to attend a Melanesian  Feast

Followed by the Annual General Meeting of the Association

From 1pm on Sunday 22nd June  2025

At 99 Day Terrace, West Croydon

$20/10

RSVP by Thurs 19th June  essential for catering purposes

 To dave-arkins@bigpond.com  or   0408345593

For those coming just for the AGM

The AWPA Annual General Meeting will be held following the lunch around 2-15-2.30 p.m.

There will be reporting on the various projects around the continuing problem of Internally Displaced People in West Papua, the renewal of transmigration and the increased political role for the armed force in the Indonesian Government.

TPNPB-OPM Accuses Indonesian Military of Planting Mine Bombs on Corpses of Its Members

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The TNI Headquarters stated that the TPNPB-OPM’s accusations were a way to discredit the TNI and seek world sympathy.

May 16, 2025 | 15.55 WIB

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – The West Papua National Liberation Army of the Free Papua Movement (TPNPB OPM) accused the Indonesian military of planting a landmine bomb on the body of a TPNPB OPM soldier. Previously, the soldier was killed in a shootout between them and Indonesian military forces.

“The victim’s body was planted with a landmine bomb by the Indonesian government military, but the TPNPB troops did not know about it,” said TPNPB OPM spokesman Sebby Sambom in a written statement on Friday, May 16, 2025.

The mine bomb then exploded right when the evacuation of the bodies was carried out. As a result, two TPNPB OPM members who were helping to evacuate the victims were killed in the incident.

“During the evacuation, the mine bomb that was installed exploded and resulted in two TPNPB members being killed and two other members being injured,” said Sebby.

According to Sebby, the three TPNPB OPM soldiers who died were Gus Kogoya, Notopinus Lawiya, and Kanis Kogoya. Meanwhile, those who suffered minor injuries due to bomb fragments included Tinus Wonda and Dnu-Dnu Seperti.

“The injured are currently at the TPNPB headquarters to undergo medical treatment,” he said.

Previously, armed contact between the TPNPB OPM and the Indonesian military occurred since around 05.00 in the morning on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Sebby claimed that the armed contact occurred after the Indonesian military launched an operation and shot civilians in Titigi Village, Ndugusiga Village, Jaindapa Village, Sugapa Lama Village, and Zanamba Village.

The Indonesian National Armed Forces Headquarters has dismissed allegations by the West Papua National Liberation Army-Free Papua Movement (TPNPB-OPM) regarding the use of explosives in an operation in Sugapa District, Intan Jaya Regency, Papua, last Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

Head of the TNI Headquarters Information Center, Major General Kristomei Sianturi, said that soldiers from the Habema Task Force did not use explosives or plant mines during the operation.

“That is OPM propaganda to discredit the TNI and seek world sympathy that the TNI is committing human rights violations in Papua,” said Kristomei when contacted on Friday, May 16, 2025. According to him, the TPNPB-OPM’s accusations and negative narratives against the TNI are nothing new. This is because this action is often carried out to attract world attention.

Tempo has tried to confirm this with the Head of the Cartenz 2025 Peace Operation Brigadier General Faizal Ramadhani and the Head of Information for the Cendrawasih XVII Military Command Lieutenant Colonel Candra Kurniawan. However, until this news was written, there had been no response.

Andi Adam Faturahman contributed to the writing of this article

Don’t stir Semar – He seeks harmony 

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https://johnmenadue.com/post/2025/05/dont-stir-semar-he-seeks-harmony/

Ancient Javanese mythology, often inherited from India and adapted to fit local culture, is rich with striking characters in the wayang kulit shadow puppet theatre. The fat-gut wise clown Semar is charged with maintaining stability.Shadow Puppet of Semar. Contributor: YA/BOT / Alamy Stock Photo Image ID: 2HWMM88

This mirrors Anthony Albanese’s zip-in-and-out visit to Jakarta. The prime minister came with the doctrine, made famous by Paul Keating in 1994, to tell President Prabowo Subianto that “there is no country more important to Australia than Indonesia”.  

Keating may have thought it true – the electorate knows it’s not.

Albanese is being polite by meeting Prabowo and getting a hotel visit that was “warm”. Government PR has a limited temperature range for such events. There was much flag waving by the hire-a-parade service – but that’s a standard Jakarta welcome for VIPs.

Here’s the cold front that Albanese hasn’t addressed: In 2023 the Lowy Institute asked: Do Australians and Indonesians trust each other?

“Australian attitudes towards Indonesia have been — at best — lukewarm. And at worst, they betray a lurking suspicion.

“Only 12% of Australians nominated Indonesia as Australia’s ‘best friend in Asia’ – fewer than Japan, India and Singapore.”

If Albanese and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have read the Lowy surveys, there’s little sign they’re clearing out the threadbare cliches for an Op Shop. Melbourne Uni Prof Tim Lindsey has written:

“Indonesia and Australia have almost nothing in common other than the accident of geographic proximity. This makes their relationship turbulent, volatile and often unpredictable.”

With this talkfest, all was predictable. Much of the reporting reads as though it’s been assembled using AI – such is the lack of mainstream media expertise in the region.

Security, trade and defence were the leads, though there were few proposals to effect change. The Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement is a bipartisan deal signed in 2020 after 10 years of negotiation.

It was supposed to improve two-way trade. Apart from adding university outposts, it’s failed to meet diversity goals, remaining a dealer in bulk – mainly meat and grains, heading from us to them. Albanese urged Oz Biz to show greater ambition, but the big problem is in Indonesia.

Explained The Jakarta Post: “Indonesia’s ambition to attract world-class investment is being quietly sabotaged, not by interest rates or the threat of US trade tariffs, but by the familiar menace of thuggery and extortion.

“From street-level rackets to entrenched mafia control of parking, freight and food markets, criminal coercion continues to drain business confidence, inflate costs and corrode the very rule of law that investors depend on.”

Now add numbers – 11 of them to one of us. Stir in the Red Threat – phantom Russian bombers scouting for a base in West Papua leading to nuclear strikes on Kirribilli. This beat-up was refuelled at the leaders’ media conference, though the hollow story has long been trashed by Jakarta.

The chance to raise serious issues in the relationship was missed. That was wrong. Likewise, the whitewashing of Prabowo, 73. To be informed world citizens, Australians need to know more of the ruler next door.

He now gets benign labels like “retired general” or “former army general and defence minister”. The full story is that in 1998, he was cashiered, fled into exile in Jordan and banned from the US and Australia for alleged human rights abuses and war crimes.

He denies the charges, which come from putting down dissident movements in East Timor and West Papua, and the kidnapping and disappearance of Jakarta students protesting for democracy in 1998. The BBC described him as “tainted”.

Through his recorded statements, the man comes across as a bombastic autocrat and a bit loony. Like Trump, he inflates nonsense: “In other countries they have made studies where the Republic of Indonesia has been declared no more in 2030.”

The source turned out to be the US Sci Fi novel Ghost Fleet.

Leaders can’t select neighbours. Had Albanese washed his shaken hands, all diplomacy would have gone down the gurgler with the blood.

Our Catholic prime minister would have missed the kiddy flag wavers and dashed for Rome ahead of the inaugural Papal mass.

He reportedly plans to ask the new pontiff to visit Australia in 2028 – an invite not offered to the divorced Prabowo.

DFAT knows he wouldn’t be cheered like his predecessor Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. He and his wife Iriana were hosted by Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 and enjoyed jolly blusukan – impromptu public walkabouts.

People-to-people ties are a key – but there’s little chance of that until we stop discriminating against Indonesians.

Malaysians and Singaporeans get free Electronic Travel Authority visas online – a facility not available to Indonesians who have to pay $195 per person and lodge a printed form. That could be changed at the admin level, and be a useful present for Albanese to offer.

Another would be the so-called Backpacker (Working Holiday) Visas. There are almost 5000 available to Indonesians but the quota isn’t full, probably because the rules — which include having $5000, a big sum for many applicants — are onerous.

There are no caps on the numbers of British passport holders.

Making it easier for young Indonesians to travel and earn would help lift cultural knowledge – and could be done without recourse to Parliament or arousing the Murdoch media.

Only one politician’s comment moved the dial from discussion to detail. David Shoebridge raised the plight of Hazara refugees stuck in Indonesia when Kevin Rudd struck the 1 July 2013 cut-off date for asylum-seekers.

Said the Greens Senator: “Labor previously opposed this policy because of its unfairness, but did nothing about it during the last Parliament; now is the time.”

The Hazara are not economic refugees and few are failed boat people; they are escapees from Sunni Taliban persecution largely because they are Shi’a Muslims. Many helped Australian troops as interpreters and guides during our 2001-2021 involvement in the war against the Taliban.

Prabowo and most Muslims next door are Sunni. In loose detention, the Shi’a are barely tolerated and unwelcome.

There are about 42,000 Hazara in Australia and about 7600 stranded in Indonesia – a state that hasn’t signed the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

In the wayang shadow theatre, Semar often takes a more realistic view of the world as opposed to the idealistic. Just the guy to help improve the talks of two leaders from cultures far apart.

Duncan Graham

 Duncan Graham has been a journalist for more than 40 years in print, radio and TV. He is the author of People Next Door (UWA Press). He is now writing for the English language media in Indonesia from within Indonesia. Duncan Graham has an MPhil degree, a Walkley Award, two Human Rights Commission awards and other prizes for his radio, TV and print journalism in Australia. He lives in East Java. ————————————————————

Fiji rights coalition slams ‘betrayal’ of West Papua for Indonesian benefits

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By APR editor – 

May 17, 2025

By Anish Chand in Suva

The NGO Coalition on Human Rights in Fiji . . . campaigning also against colonisation and for justice in Kanaky, Palestine and West Papua. Image: FWCC/File

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka and Fiji’s coalition government are “detached from the values that Fijians hold dear”, says the NGO Coalition on Human Rights in Fiji (NGOCHR).

The rights coalition has expressed deep concern over Rabuka’s ongoing engagements with Indonesia.

“History will judge how we respond as Fijians to this moment. We must not stay silent when Pacific people are being occupied and killed,” said NGOCHR chair Shamima Ali.

“Is Fiji’s continuing silence on West Papua yet another example of being muzzled by purse strings?”

“As members of the Melanesian and Pacific family, bound by shared ancestry and identity, the acceptance of financial and any other benefit from Indonesia—while remaining silent on the plight of West Papua—is a betrayal of our family member and of regional solidarity.”

“True leadership must be rooted in solidarity, justice, and accountability,” Ali said.

“It is imperative that Pacific leaders not only advocate for peace and cooperation in the region but also continue to hold Indonesia to account on ongoing human rights violations in West Papua.”

Republished from The Fiji Times with permission.

West Papuan intergenerational storytelling project recognised in Victorian Community History Awards

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PROGRAM: NESIA DAILY 

 23h ago

https://www.abc.net.au/pacific/programs/nesia-daily/kal-angam-kal-recognised-in-victorian-community-history-awards/105182902?utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared

Audio 17 min.click on the ABC link above to hear the audio

Presented by   Jacob McQuire   Emily Nguyen-Hunt

In January 2006, 43 West Papuans arrived in Australia by boat seeking asylum. 

Within months, all were granted protection visas and have lived in exile in Melbourne ever since. 

At the time, their arrival sparked diplomatic tensions between Australia and Indonesia, drawing global attention to Australia’s position on human rights abuses in the Asia-Pacific region.

Years on, a community-led project called Kal Angam-Kal: Stories of West Papua – spearheaded by Cyndi Makabory, Yasbelle Kerkow, and Florence Tupuola, shows young West Papuans interviewing Elders from that group of 43. Some even hearing about their own parents’ journey for the first time. 

Since first exhibiting in 2023, Kal Angam-Kal was recently a Commendation Recipient in the 2024 Victorian Community History Awards.

Nesia Daily spoke with Cyndi Makabory and project participant, Mariana Korwa about the power of intergenerational storytelling and what Kal Angam-Kal means to their community. 

 Credits  Jacob McQuire, Presenter 

Emily Nguyen-Hunt , Presenter

Indonesia food plan risks ‘world’s largest’ deforestation

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 by Marchio Gorbiano with Sara Hussein in Bangkok

An Indonesian soldier gives a thumbs up as he crosses a rice field on a combine harvester in remote Papua, where a government food security mega-project has raised fears of mass deforestation.

Keen to end its reliance on rice imports, Indonesia wants to plant vast tracts of the crop, along with sugar canefor biofuel, in the restive eastern region.

But environmentalists warn it could become the world’s largest deforestation project, threatening endangered species and Jakarta’s climate commitments.

And activists fear the scheme will fuel rights violations in a region long plagued by alleged military abuses as a separatist insurgency rumbles on.

The project’s true scale is hard to ascertain; even government statements vary.

At a minimum, however, it aims to plant several million hectares of rice and sugar cane across South Papua province’s Merauke. One million hectares is around the size of Lebanon.

Deforestation linked to the plan is already under way.

By late last year, more than 11,000 hectares had been cleared—an area larger than Paris—according to Franky Samperante of environmental and Indigenous rights NGO Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat.

That figure has only increased, according to analysis by campaign group Mighty Earth and conservation start-up The TreeMap.

Their work shows areas cleared include primary and secondary natural dryland and swamp forest, as well as secondary mangrove forest, savanna and bush.

“Usually, deforestation is a product of government not doing its job,” said Mighty Earth chief executive Glenn Hurowitz.

“But in this case, it’s actually the state saying we want to clear some of our last remaining forests, carbon-rich peatlands, habitat for rare animals,” he told AFP.

Indonesia’s government says the land targeted is degraded, already cultivated or in need of “optimization,” dismissing some areas as little more than swamps.

‘Tragedy’

Environmentalists argue that misunderstands the local ecosystem.

“In South Papua, the landscape and the ecosystem is lowland forest,” said Samperante.

“There are often misconceptions or even belittling” of these ecosystems, he added.

Mapping done by Mighty Earth shows the project threatens a broader ecosystem range—including peatlands and forests the group says should be protected by a government moratorium on clearing.

“The tragedy in this project,” said Hurowitz, “is that Indonesia has made so much progress in breaking the link between agricultural expansion and deforestation.”

“Unfortunately, this single project threatens to undermine all progress.”

Indonesia has some of the world’s highest deforestation rates and Papua retains some of the largest remaining untouched tracts.

Indonesian think-tank CELIOS says cutting down so much forest could derail Jakarta’s plan to reach net-zero by 2050.

For President Prabowo Subianto’s government, criticism of the project ignores Indonesia’s agricultural and economic realities.

He has made the scheme a priority, visiting soon after taking office.

In January, he said the country was on track to end rice imports by late 2025, and reiterated its energy independence needs.

The agriculture ministry did not respond to AFP’s request for comment.

In Papua, planting is in full swing. In the region’s Kaliki district, AFP saw farmers supported by soldiers tending rice paddies in recently-cleared land.

“This location used to be like the one on the right here. Non-productive and neglected land,” said Ahmad Rizal Ramdhani, a soldier serving as the agriculture ministry’s food resilience taskforce chief, at an event lauding the project.

That characterization is disputed by Mighty Earth’s satellite analysis, which found that at least two areas in the region cleared for rice overlap with government-designated peatland.

Indonesia’s military is heavily involved in the project.

Local farmer Yohanis Yandi Gebze told AFP soldiers gave him “tools, agricultural equipment and machinery” for rice cultivation.

Speaking not far from Ramdhani’s event, he praised the military.

“I see them cooperating with the people very well,” he said.

‘Cannot refuse’

Others say that is only part of the story.

Indonesia officially seized Papua, a former Dutch colony, in a widely criticized but UN-backed vote in 1969.

It has since been accused of abuses in a decades-long separatist conflict in the region.

“The community feels intimidated,” said Dewanto Talubun, executive director at Merauke-based environmental and rights group Perkumpulan Harmoni Alam Papuana.

“Not all members of the community agree with this project, and they cannot directly refuse,” he told AFP.

Samperante too reported local fears.

“Almost every day a human rights violation occurs,” he said.

The defense ministry told AFP the military had the resources and “high discipline” to accelerate the food project while securing “stability and security” in the region.

However, there are significant doubts about the project’s viability.

“Soils in Merauke are likely too acidic and the climate too extreme… to grow rice,” said David Gaveau, founder of The TreeMap.

He warned that draining Merauke’s wetlands for agriculture risks turning the area “into a tinder box”—a fate seen elsewhere in Indonesia.

Critics do not dispute Jakarta’s food security needs, but said crops should be grown elsewhere on abandoned agricultural land.

“It should be done in places that are capable of absorbing it,” said Hurowitz.

“Without destroying Indonesia’s gorgeous, beautiful natural heritage and community lands.”

© 2025 AFP