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Papuan women’s mangrove forest in Indonesia is increasingly threatened by development and pollution

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On the southeastern coast of Jayapura city lies a mangrove forest where only women are permitted to enter

By EDNA TARIGAN and FIRDIA LISNAWATI – Associated Press 8 hrs ago 

JAYAPURA, Indonesia (AP) — On the southeastern coast of the city of Jayapura, Petronela Merauje walked from house to house in her floating village inviting women to join her the next morning in the surrounding mangrove forests.

Merauje and the women of her village, Enggros, practice the tradition of Tonotwiyat, which literally means “working in the forest.” For six generations, women from the 700-strong Papuan population there have worked among the mangroves collecting clams, fishing and gathering firewood.

“The customs and culture of Papuans, especially those of us in Enggros village, is that women are not given space and place to speak in traditional meetings, so the tribal elders provide the mangrove forest as our land,” Merauje said. It’s “a place to find food, a place for women to tell stories, and women are active every day and earn a living every day.”

The forest is a short 13 kilometers (8 miles) away from downtown Jayapura, the capital city of Papua, Indonesia’s easternmost province. It’s been known as the women’s forest since 2016, when Enggros’ leader officially changed its name. Long before that, it had already been a space just for women. But as pollution, development and biodiversity loss shrink the forest and stunt plant and animal life, those in the village fear an important part of their traditions and livelihoods will be lost. Efforts to shield it from devastation have begun, but are still relatively small.

Women have their own space — but it’s shrinking

One early morning, Merauje and her 15-year-old daughter took a small motor boat toward the forest. Stepping off on Youtefa Bay, mangrove trees all around, they stood chest-deep in the water with buckets in hand, wiggling their feet in the mud to find bia noor, or soft-shell clams. The women collect these for food, along with other fish.

“The women’s forest is our kitchen,” said Berta Sanyi, another woman from Enggros village.

That morning, another woman joined the group looking for firewood, hauling dry logs onto her boat. And three other women joined on a rowboat.

Women from the next village, Tobati, also have a women’s forest nearby. The two Indigenous villages are only 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) apart, and they’re culturally similar, with Enggros growing out of Tobati’s population decades ago. In the safety of the forest, women of both villages talk about issues at home with one another and share grievances away from the ears of the rest of the village.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a series of on how tribes and Indigenous communities are coping with and combating climate change.

Alfred Drunyi, the leader of Drunyi tribe in Enggros, said that having dedicated spaces for women and men is a big part of the village’s culture. There are tribal fines if a man trespasses and enters the forest, and the amount is based on how guilty the community judges the person to be.

“They should pay it with our main treasure, the traditional beads, maybe with some money. But the fines should be given to the women,” Drunyi said.

But Sanyi, 65, who’s been working in the forest since she was just 17, notes that threats to the space come from elsewhere.

Development on the bay has turned acres of forest into large roads, including a 700-meter (2,300-foot) bridge into Jayapura that passes through Enggros’ pier. Jayapura’s population has exploded in recent decades, and around 400,000 people live in the city — the largest on the island.

In turn, the forest has shrunk. Nearly six decades ago, the mangrove forest in Youtefa Bay was about 514 hectares (1,270 acres). Estimates say it’s now less than half that.

“I am so sad when I see the current situation of the forest,” Sanyi said, “because this is where we live.” She said many residents, including her own children, are turning to work in Jayapura instead of maintaining traditions.

Pollution puts traditions and health at risk

Youtefa Bay, where the sea’s brackish water and five rivers in Papua meet, serves as the gathering bowl for the waste that runs through the rivers as they cross through Jayapura.

Plastic bottles, tarpaulin sheets and pieces of wood are seen stuck between the mangrove roots. The water around the mangrove forest is polluted and dark.

After dozens of years being able to feel the clams on the bay with her feet, Sanyi said she now often has to feel through trash first. And once she removes the trash and gets to the muddy ground where the clams live, there are many fewer than there used to be.

Paula Hamadi, 53, said that she never saw the mangrove forest as bad as it is now. For years, she’s been going to the forest almost every day during the low tide in the morning to search for clams.

“It used to be different,” Hamadi said. “From 8.00 a.m. to 8:30 in the morning, I could get one can. But now, I only get trash.”

The women used to be able to gather enough clams to sell some at the nearest village, but now their small hauls are reserved for eating with their families.

A study in 2020 found that high concentrations of lead from waste from homes and businesses were found at several points in the bay. Lead can be toxic to humans and aquatic organisms, and the study suggests its contaminated several species that are often consumed by the people of Youtefa Bay.

Other studies also showed that populations of shellfish and crab in the bay were declining, said John Dominggus Kalor, a lecturer on fisheries and marine sciences at Cenderawasih University.

“The threats related to heavy metal contamination, microplastics, and public health are high,” Kalor said. “In the future, it will have an impact on health.”

Some are trying to save the land

Some of the mangrove areas have been destroyed for development, leading to degradation throughout the forest.

Mangroves can absorb the shocks of extreme weather events, like tsunamis, and provide ecosystems with the needed environment to thrive. They also serve social and cultural functions for the women, whose work is mostly done between the mangroves.

“In the future people will say that there used to be a women’s forest here” that disappeared because of development and pollution, said Kalor.

Various efforts to preserve it have been made, including the residents of Enggros village themselves. Merauje and other women from Enggros are trying to start mangrove tree nurseries and, where possible, plant new mangrove trees in the forest area.

“We plant new trees, replace the dead ones, and we also clean up the trash around Youtefa Bay,” Merauje said. “I do that with my friends to conserve, to maintain this forest.”

Beyond efforts to reforest it, Kalor said there also needs to be guarantees that more of the forest won’t be flattened for development in the future.

There is no regional regulation to protect Youtefa Bay and specifically the women’s forests, but Kalor thinks it would help prevent deforestation in the future.

“That should no longer be done in our bay,” he said.

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Army providing free healthcare services to native Papuans in Kimaam

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Jayapura, Papua (ANTARA) – Indonesian soldiers from the 125/SMB Infantry Battalion Task Force provided free healthcare services to native Papuans in Kiworo Village, Kimaam Sub-district, Merauke District, South Papua Province.

Located on Yos Sudarso Island, some 129 kilometers away from Merauke, Kimaam Sub-district can only be reached by airplane or ship, Kimaam Post Commander Second Lieutenant Raden Andika stated.



During this community service, the army paramedics visited the households in need of healthcare services, he noted in a press statement that ANTARA received in Jayapura City on Wednesday.

Apart from providing healthcare services to the villagers, the army personnel also conducted a knowledge-sharing session on healthy lifestyle and clean environment, Andika remarked.

A Kiworo villager named Margaretha Muyak thanked the army personnel for the community service.



In addition to Kiworo, Kimaam Sub-district has several other villages, including Kimaam, Mambum, Woner, Deka, Komolom, Kumbis, Turiram, Webu, Umanderu, Kalilam, Purawander, Teri, and Sabudom.

ANTARA reported earlier that Indonesian soldiers stationed in Papua have demonstrated exemplary capability in maintaining peace and stability in the region for decades in their endeavors to safeguard the country’s territorial integrity.

The soldiers are chiefly tasked with securing peace and stability in the country’s easternmost region.

However, they are also living and mingling with members of local communities, which has provided them a glimpse of the challenges faced by native Papuans in their day-to-day lives.

West Papuan leader makes ‘raise our banned flag’ plea over new threat

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By APR editor – 

November 14, 2024

Asia Pacific Report

An exiled West Papuan leader has called on supporters globally to show their support by raising the Morning Star flag — banned by Indonesia — on December 1.

“Whether in your house, your workplace, the beach, the mountains or anywhere else, please raise our flag and send us a picture,” said United Liberation Movement for West Papua (ULMWP) interim president Benny Wenda.

“By doing so, you give West Papuans strength and courage and show us we are not alone.”

The plea came in response to a dramatic step-up in military reinforcements for the Melanesian region by new President Prabowo Subianto, who was inaugurated last month, in an apparent signal for a new crackdown on colonised Papuans.

January 1 almost 63 years ago was when the Morning Star flag of independence was flown for the first time in the former Dutch colony. However, Indonesia took over in a so-called “Act of Free Choice” that has been widely condemned as a sham.

“The situation in occupied West Papua is on a knife edge,” said the UK-based Wenda in a statement on the ULMWP website.

He added that President Prabowo had announced the return of a “genocidal transmigration settlement policy”.

Indigenous people a minority
“From the 1970s, transmigration brought hundreds of thousands of Javanese settlers into West Papua, ultimately making the Indigenous people a minority in our own land,” Wenda said.

“At the same time, Prabowo [is sending] thousands of soldiers to Merauke to safeguard the destruction of our ancestral forest for a set of gigantic ecocidal developments.

“Five million hectares of Papuan forest are set to be ripped down for sugarcane and rice plantations.

“West Papuans are resisting Prabowo’s plan to wipe us out, but we need all our supporters to stand beside us as we battle this terrifying new threat.”

The Morning Star is illegal in West Papua and frequently protesters who have breached this law have faced heavy jail sentences.

“If we raise [the flag], paint it on our faces, draw it on a banner, or even wear its colours on a bracelet, we can face up to 15 or 20 years in prison.

“This is why we need people to fly the flag for us. As ever, we will be proudly flying the Morning Star above Oxford Town Hall. But we want to see our supporters hold flag raisings everywhere — on every continent.

‘Inhabiting our struggle’
“Whenever you raise the flag, you are inhabiting the spirit of our struggle.”

Wenda appealed to everyone in West Papua — “whether you are in the cities, the villages, or living as a refugee or fighter in the bush” — to make December 1 a day of prayer and reflection on the struggle.

“We remember our ancestors and those who have been killed by the Indonesian coloniser, and strengthen our resolve to carry on fighting for Merdeka — our independence.”

Wenda said the peaceful struggle was making “great strides forward” with a constitution, a cabinet operating on the ground, and a provisional government with a people’s mandate.

“We know that one day soon the Morning Star will fly freely in our West Papuan homeland,” he said.

“But for now, West Papuans risk arrest and imprisonment if we wave our national flag. We need our supporters around the world to fly it for us, as we look forward to a Free West Papua.”

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Papuan indigenous peoples struggle has become much harder after court ruling: Walhi

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Suara Papua – November 4, 2024

Jayapura – The struggle by Papuan indigenous people to save their customary forests from the invasion by corporations and the government has become harder after legal efforts reached a dead end with the Supreme Court’s (MA) rejection of the Awyu tribe’s appeal which challenged the environmental feasibility permit issued to the company PT Indo Asiana Lestari (IAL) by the Papua provincial government.

The court’s decision, as per Supreme Court document number 458 K/TUN/LH/2024, was taken at a deliberation meeting of the panel of judges on September 18. The full document was only able to be accessed on November 1.

Following the Supreme Court’s ruling, Hendrikus Franky Woro, an environmental activist from the Awyu tribe with the Coalition to Save Papua’s Customary Forests, expressed his deep disappointment because the Supreme Court appeal by the Awyu indigenous people, which was an effort to defend their customary forests from the expansion of palm oil corporations in Boven Digoel district, South Papua, now seemed to have been vain.

Woro and the Awyu tribe took their appeal to the Supreme Court after the Jayapura State Administrative Court (PTUN) and the Makassar State Administrative High Court (PTTUN) rejected their lawsuit and appeal.

The legal challenge was reasonable considering that the environmental feasibility permit issued by the provincial government for PT IAL was considered illegal and has a huge impact on the customary landowners and their future generations. This is because the palm oil company is operating on 36,094 hectares of land owned by the Woro clan, part of the Awyu tribe.

In a press release on Monday November 4, Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Regional Executive Director Maikel Primus Peuki said that the verdict adds to the list of bad news for indigenous peoples and local communities who are fighting in courts against the threat of companies damaging the environment.

Woro’s disappointment, according to Peuki, was also felt by the Coalition to Save Papua’s Customary Forests. Peuki also felt the same because the court’s decision to reject the cassation appeal will make indigenous people’s struggle more difficult.

That is why Peuki regrets the Supreme Court’s ruling which seems to give false power to the company.

“The island of Papua is a customary land owned by more than 200 clans living in the land of Papua. This Supreme Court decision seems to give false power to the company. However, the Awyu indigenous people still have the right to their customary forests that have been with them for generations since they first lived in this customary area”, he said.

Walhi Papua hopes that the permit owned by the company will not eliminate the rights of indigenous peoples to their land, because it is clear that the owners of the customary rights have not relinquished their customary rights to anyone.

“We hope that the public will continue to support the struggle of the Awyu tribe and indigenous peoples throughout Papua who are fighting to defend their customary lands and forests”, said Peuki.

It turns out that one of the three judges who tried the case, Yodi Martono Wahyunadi, issued a dissenting opinion.

One of the important points in the dissenting opinion concerns the 90-day lawsuit deadline, which was previously used as a pretext by the Makassar PTTUN to reject Woro’s appeal. In his considerations, Judge Wahyunadi referred to Article 5 Paragraph (1) of Supreme Court Regulation Number 6/2018 which states that the calculation of the deadline only refers to working days. The deadline calculation should also have included local holidays in Papua province.

But considering substantive justice rather than formal justice, Judge Wahyunadi was of the opinion that the court needed to set aside the deadline provision by carrying out a practical invalidation.

Tigor Gemdita Hutapea, a member of the Save Papua’s Customary Forests advocacy team stated, “From the considerations in the dissenting opinion regarding this deadline, we consider the Supreme Court to be inconsistent in applying the rules they make. Even though the Supreme Court regulation is a guide used by the judiciary internally”.

“This Supreme Court’s ruling does not mean that the object of the lawsuit is correct because two judges did not examine the substance. But one [member of the] panel of judges in their dissenting opinion stated that the issuance the AMDAL [Environmental Impact Analysis] was proven not to have accommodated losses in areas where indigenous peoples live, which have been managed and utilised for generations”, said Hutapea.

In the dissenting opinion Wahyunadi said that the object of the lawsuit, the environmental permit for PT IAL, is clearly contrary the principles in Law Number 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management, so it must be annulled. Unfortunately, Judge Wahyunadi lost the vote.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was “WALHI Papua Sebut Perjuangan Masyarakat Adat Kian Berat Pasca Putusan MA”.]

Source: https://suarapapua.com/2024/11/04/walhi-papua-sebut-perjuangan-masyarakat-adat-kian-berat-pasca-putusan-ma/

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The population of Indonesian Papua opposes the new “Transmigrasi”

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ASIA/INDONESIA – The population of Indonesian Papua opposes the new “Transmigrasi”

Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927

Wednesday, 6 November 2024

Jayapura (Agenzia Fides) – The indigenous population of West Papua rejects the plan of the new Indonesian government to resume the program of internal migration of people from Indonesian islands (mainly Java) to Papua. The planned resettlement program (“Transmigrasi”) aims to encourage internal migration of people from densely populated regions to less densely populated regions of Indonesia. The program was conceived and initiated by the Dutch colonial government, but was taken up and continued again in the last century by the Indonesian government of Sukarno and then from the mid-1980s by the dictator Suharto, only to be suspended in early 2000. 


The Indonesian government of newly elected President Prabowo Subianto has now announced that it wants to “revitalize” ten areas in Papua with a new population “to strengthen unity and provide social support to the local population.” “We want Papua to be fully unified as part of Indonesia in terms of welfare, national unity and beyond,” said Minister of Transmigration Muhammad Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara. 


The announcement, meanwhile, sparked concern and protests from Papua’s indigenous inhabitants, who fear social and economic problems. West Papua, the western part of the large island of New Guinea, is Indonesian territory and a resource-rich region, but has long been a source of conflict: the indigenous population has denounced abuses and human rights violations by the military for decades. Indigenous groups and student associations in West Papua recall the negative impact of the program under dictator Suharto’s “New Order” in the 1960s: to make room for “settlers,” indigenous land was confiscated, forests were cut down, and cultural traditions were destroyed (so much so that several indigenous groups now speak the Javanese dialect better than their mother tongue). 

The government’s announcement has also raised doubts among local Christian communities, who have called on the government to focus on the needs of the people rather than on a new “colonization.” The Papuan Council of Churches, an ecumenical body that includes leaders of the various Christian denominations, has stressed that the people of Papua are “in dire need of services” and that they “can do without further ‘transmigration.'” “Papuans need education, health care, social welfare and development,” the Council stressed.

 Local religious leaders pointed out that the program perpetuates inequalities rather than promotes prosperity. The phenomenon exacerbates social problems, such as tensions arising from cultural and linguistic differences between the various groups: native Papuans suffer from marginalization and exclusion, and feel resentment towards “foreigners,” who are Indonesian citizens from other islands, as well as a “distance” from the central government in Jakarta. According to official statistics, between 1964 and 1999, 78,000 families moved to and settled in the Papua region thanks to the incentives offered by the government: the program was suspended to respect the principle of administrative autonomy of the various regions of the vast Indonesian archipelago. 

According to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics, about 6.2 million people now live in the Indonesian region of West Papua. Persistent tensions that have never abated in Indonesian Papua have created an underlying state of crisis due to conflicts between the Indonesian army and armed separatist groups such as the Organisasi Papua Merdeka (OPM) or the Free Papua Movement (which emerged in the early 1960s): today there are still about 80,000 internally displaced Papuans in the conflict areas. The fighting groups claim injustices against the local population. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 6/11/2024)

DR BUDI HERNAWAN – WEST PAPUA – “LET’S BULLDOZE AND OCCUPY THEM NOW!”

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Live Encounters Magazine Volume One November-December 2024.

“Let’s bulldoze and occupy them now!”: dismantling the logic of outsourcing
in the National Strategic Project for Food Estate and Energy in West Papua 
– by Dr. Budi Hernawan

I was privileged to attend two important events in Jakarta on 16 and 18 October 2024 where representatives of the Malind and Ye tribes from the Southern Papua advocate for their rights to exist in their own land against the encroachment of the so-called Proyek Strategis Nasional Food Estate (the National Strategic Projects for Food Estate, hereafter PSN). The first event occurred in the Office of Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) and the second in the office of the Indonesian Bishops’ Conference. I am not reporting the details of the events, but I will reflect on the testimonies presented by the indigenous Papuans during the meetings since their narratives encapsulate what the Cameroonian philosopher, Achille Mbembe, calls ‘indirect private governance’ of postcolony (Mbembe 2001: 80) or I would call it outsourcing of West Papua as postcolony.

Mbembe explains that indirect private governance entails “privatisation of state sovereignty performed by private operators for private ends” (Mbembe 2001: 78). The outsourcing of state sovereignty aims not only privatises the means of coercion but also resources and other utilities formerly concentrated in the state. In exercising the state’s coercion against the Papuans, the Indonesian state armed forces remain the main operator on the ground as we will learn from the testimonies below.

However, the absence of a presidential decree that governs a military operation for both combat and non-combat functions as stipulated by Law 34/2004 regarding the Indonesian Military (TNI) demonstrates the ways in which the state has outsourced its power to various units within the Indonesian military without the required legal and legitimate power of the state. As a result, these military units no longer act to protect the nations, the people and the country but the private enterprise.

On the other hand, the privatisation of state power over resources has been translated into encroaching extractive industry that has deeply changed the landscape of Papua and the indigenous Papuans. The state has outsourced its authority to both national and international corporation to dominate the Papuan landscape, body and psyche.

The outsourcing framework is effective to analyse the production of Papua as a postcolony, which Mbembe defines societies that [1] emerged from colonial past and violence. It is [2] chaotic but coherent, governed by [3] political improvisation, and [4] distinctive regime of violence (Mbembe 2001: 102). The postcolony of Papua, however, not only involves a binary opposition of Papua and Indonesia. Rather, it implants ‘the logic of conviviality’ to all Papuans and Indonesians whereby the state, the Papuans and the Indonesians co-exist and share space.

The testimonies

During the two separate meetings, the representatives of the Malind and Yei tribes explained the penetration of PSN to their lives, their land, their forest, their animals in a bitter tone.  They represent some 50,000 indigenous peoples affected by the project (Pusaka Bentala Rakyat 2024: 12). The number is only half size of the population of Setiabudi District, the smallest district in Jakarta[1] but their land that the project has been penetrating is about 10 times larger than Jakarta.

Mama Sinta, a woman elder from Ilwayap District, told the meetings, “We put sasi, coconut leaves, as a sign of blockade but Jhonlin Group [the corporation] doesn’t care. They keep bulldozing our land. We are helpless. We are scared. Jhonlin Group does not acknowledge us. We cannot do anything because the [Indonesian] military are there to protect them. They just shoot at deer randomly. We can only look at from a distance with tears. When we heard that the Regent of Merauke was going to visit us, we told him our rejection of the project.

We told him the destruction and impact that we suffered from the project. We already complained to him but he did nothing. So, we are appalled whom he protects? We reject the corporation, but they already bulldoze our forest, dig up our water fountain, drive away fish, deer, kangaroo, pigs and other animals. So, we came here to Jakarta to raise our concerns to the government ministries here.”

Vincent, another landowner from Jagegob District, continues, “In my area, they plan to grow sugarcane. My clan has already rejected the project. We are a bit better off than Mama Sinta’s situation because we did not deal with the [military] troops. We only deal with Bintara Pembina Desa (Babinsa, low ranking army officers) who go around door to door to tell off people to give up their land. This [action] has caused tension and rift within families. For some families, where brother agrees to receive compensation, his sister opposes or vice versa so they have family fight.”

Simon, the Coordinator of Forum Solidaritas Merauke (Solidarity Forum of Merauke), narrated his story. “Around June-July 2024, we saw a luxury cruise with five decks and helipad belongs to Haji Ihsam harboured in Mariana strait. Towards the end of July 2024, some 100 excavators arrived, and they are now clearing the forest aiming to construct 135 km road with 1 km wide straight from District Ilwayap in the West to District Muting in the East [see the long orange line in the middle of Figure 1]. The excavators are so cruel. They just killed deer by crushing them with their claws just like that. Meanwhile, the army are flying around with choppers and shoot dead at any deer they see are running away from the excavators. Then they collect and bring them to the camp to eat. They never ask for our permission.”Figure 1. Map of Food Estate National Strategic Project in Merauke Regency. Courtesy of Pusaka Bentala Rakyat, 2024.

“The road project is ridiculous. There are many parts on the way are very deep peatland. Boats can even sail through during the rainy season. How come they will build the road? Nonetheless, they already destroy our water. We drink from the swamp. There are lotus flowers and others who filter the water so we can drink it. Now, it’s gone. Other parts are our sacred ancestral ground where not everyone is allowed to enter. They have also been destroyed. So we oppose this project. We already raised this issue with Papua’s People Council (MRP) of South Papua Province but they told us that they know nothing. They confessed that they have never been consulted by the central government or the Regent of Merauke. So, we put sasi adat, symbolic blockade, in every village to tell the corporation that we oppose them.”

Affirming the previous testimonies, Franky Samperante, Director of Pusaka Bentala Rakyat Foundation, explains that the Food Estate project in Merauke is full of secrecy. “We already sent letters to the government of Merauke to request the site plan of the food estate project on the ground of freedom of information. But we only received a list of small companies operating in Merauke unrelated to the food estate projects. They do not comply with free prior informed consent as required. There is no AMDAL (Environmental Impact Analysis), KLHS (Strategic Environment Analysis) and permission of the feasibility of the environment documents”

He also questions the road project that Haji Isam is currently doing [see the long orange line in the middle of Figure 1]. “The road project doesn’t make sense. Where do you find in Indonesia a road with one-kilometre wide? We suspect it’s not only for road but for something else. But we don’t know, and we don’t have information from the government or the contractor because they do not want to tell us. It’s also questionable the role of the military troops with big guns in the field protecting the project”

The testimonies went around for almost 2 hours. At the end, the speakers expressed their gratitude to the audience who paid attention to them because no one in Merauke listened to them. They smile but they are also well aware of that their struggle is far from over.

What is the National Strategic Projects for Food Estate and Energy?

PSN was born in 2016 by Nawacita, the nine vision of the outgoing President Joko Widodo, who was determined to expedite economic development and economic equality in 3T (tertinggal, terdepan, terluar or the most undeveloped, the frontier and the outer) areas through massive infrastructure development (Rasunah et al. 2024: 1). The vision was implemented by various Presidential Decrees and Ministerial Regulations resulted in 341 PSN across 34 provinces in Indonesia during the period of 2016-2024.

The latest Ministerial Regulation No. 8 of 2023 regarding the Fourth Amendment of Ministerial Regulation No. 7 of 2021 regarding the Change of the List of PSN is the one that introduces 10 new mega projects in Papua. Five of them are infrastructure projects, such as Sorong Port, new airport of Nabire, new airport of Siboru and others. The food estate projects in the Regency of Merauke falls under the category of Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (Special Economy Zone) aiming to produce sugar, bioethanol, and rice (Pusaka Bentala Rakyat 2024: 2).

The logic of the project is not novel. It is a continuation of 2.5 million-hectare MIFEE (Merauke Food and Energy Estate)[2]project introduced by Yudhoyono administration in 2010 but failed to meet its own ambition as initially had claimed. Officially, the government grabbed 1,282,833 hectares (see Figure 2) from the Malind tribe or 25 percent of the territory of Merauke Regency for the project but since it was outsourced to 38 corporations, the size of the occupied land became 1,588,651 hectares (almost ten times the size of London). Nevertheless, the destruction of the Malind’s life is more than real. Half size of MIFEE project was virgin rainforest, which belongs to the Malind tribe. It had been cleared but left abandoned.Figure 2. Map of Merauke Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE). Courtesy of Pusaka Bentala Rakyat, 2024.

A joint investigative report of TEMPO magazine, Pusaka Bentala Rakyat and Trend Asia, “Competing Food Estates in Merauke”, 23 September 2024[3], reveals that Jokowi refused to reuse MIFEE area because he did not want the Democrat Party, Yudhoyono’s political party, would have taken credit, should the project had gone well. Instead, Jokowi expedited the food estate project in Central Kalimantan aiming for food storage and grow casava.

Nonetheless, TEMPO noted that both projects withered away with no result and both Ombudsman and BPK’s audit found huge problems of the project starting from the planning until the implementation stage. The failure of Central Kalimantan projects, however, did not stop Jokowi’s administration. Instead, it prompted Jokowi to issue Presidential Decree No. 15/2024 set up a new task force to expedite self-sufficiency of sugar and bioethanol headed by Minister of Energy and Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia. It did not take too long for Bahlil Lahadalia to act.

He held meeting with various ministries and local government of South Papua and Merauke that outsourced 10 corporations to do the job which resulted in the first planting of sugarcane by Jokowi in Tanah Miring District on 27 July 2024 (Pusaka Bentala Rakyat 2024: 6-7).

But at the same time, then President-elect Prabowo felt that food estate was his idea since 2009 since as the Minister of Defence, he was appointed by President Jokowi as the head of task force of food security. He instructed his Ministry of Defence to find a tycoon who was willing to prefinance the project. They found coal mining entrepreneur Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad also known as Haji Isam, the owner of Jhonlin Group and the cousin of the former Minister of Agriculture Amra Sulaiman. He is the one on the ground now. He is tasked to clear 50,000 -100,000 hectares which costs Rp1 trillion (USD66 millions). Prabowo also revived PT Agra Industry Nasional (Agrinas) which previously failed in the food estate project in Gunung Mas, Central Kalimantan (Pusaka Bentala Rakyat 2024: 10).

In a broader picture of PSN, the recent report of Nalar Institute from Yogyakarta, “Proyek Strategis Nasional: KepentinganSi(apa)? Catatan Kritis Implementasi PSN 2016-2024” (Rasunah et al. 2024) is revealing. Although the report is framed in economic terms, it provides us with in-depth analysis of the inherent contradiction between the Nawacitapromise for economic development and equality and the reality on the ground. The Report argues that construction of infrastructure does not necessarily generate multiplier effects that lead to an increase of people’s welfare. On the contrary, the PSN policy has increased social conflict and environmental destruction. The report from Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA/ the Agrarian Reform Consortium) explains that during 2020-2023 there are 115 agrarian conflicts eruption due to PSN, which continues to increase exponentially every year; down streaming process in the mining industry has increased poverty; and food estate project seriously damage the environment (Rasunah et al. 2024: 4).

Further the report explains two major detrimental impacts of PSN: social and environmental. In the social sphere, PSN has caused the decline of people’s economy, the rise of agrarian conflict and dispute over land compensation, disruption of daily life activity, threat of the life of indigenous community, and threat to public health and safety. For instance, the nickel project in Sulawesi Tenggara has impoverished the people from 11,17% (2021) to 11.43% (2023) instead of increasing their welfare whereas the similar nickel project in Obi Island in North Maluku has significantly caused air pollution which led to the increase of perspiration infection disease between 2021-2022 (Rasunah et al. 2024: xx).

Similarly, PSN has caused detrimental impacts on the environment. The report found that the most frequently impact of the infrastructure development is the damage of the green ecosystem. This includes destruction of forest and peatland, and reduction of green space. For instance, the construction of Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) in Central Sulawesi has sacrificed 8,700 hectares of forest for mining operation and smelter. 90 hectares of forest was cleared to construct Tiu Suntuk dam in the Sumbawa Barat Regency and of course, 2,684,680.68 hectare of forest in the South Papua Province will be destroyed to develop food estate projects as explained above (Rasunah et al. 2024: 4).

If we scrutinise further, the PSN is flawed since its inception since it adopts the logic of outsourcing. The report clearly identifies the flaws in five stages of project design and implementation (Rasunah et al. 2024: 19-21). At the project design stage, PSN failed to meet its promise to redistribute resources. The fact is distribution of resources, and the project puts a heavy emphasis on procedures than substance, which is about people’s consent and participation. The second stage is the agenda setting which lacks legitimate representation of all stakeholders and does not comply fully with AMDAL and KLHS. The third stage, planning and policy formulation of PSN, does not include public consultation, proper dissemination of information to the public, and transparency of information about the project.

The fourth stage of implementation is full of intimidation, blockade from the affected community so the project is delayed which is supposed to be finalised in the beginning of the project. The fifth stage of monitoring indicates corruption of the project funds and there is no follow-up of people’s complaint by the government whereas corporation does not monitor and evaluate of the safety and welfare of employees and implementation of CSR and the environment. In sum, the report argues that the main problem of PSN is all about governance.

Why is it called outsourcing?

If we analyse PSN, the problem not only lies on the failed promise of development, but it is much more disturbing than that. The logic of outsourcing of PSN demonstrates that the Indonesian state treats West Papua as postcolony or no man’s land. The testimonies of the indigenous community shows that they do not exist in the eyes of the government, the corporations and TNI. The indigenous people have told us that they have to accept the dysfunctional state apparatus: Regent of Merauke, the newly established South Papua Province, Papua’s People’s Council (MRP) of the South Papua Province, and the Papua People’s Council (DPRP) of the South Papua Province.

All these institutions have failed to protect them as the legitimate citizens of the South Papua Province. Instead, they have been treated as an alien who does not have any rights to exist. The state has even privatized its sovereignty to the selected corporations to occupy the Malind land and remove their people with the direct assistance of TNI.

The whole policy of PSN is chaotic since the planning stage as the first Mbembe’s criterion of the postcolony characterises. Competing interests to be portrayed as the saviour of food security have been manifested in Yudhoyono’s policy of MIFEE, Jokowi’s policy of PSN and now Prabowo’s PSN follow-up. PSN does not follow the logical and ethical planning, but it has a coherent internal logic, namely growthism and occupation. The promises for economic development and equality of the local community do not match the reality on the ground since the indigenous community have been removed from their ancestral land so the project only benefits corporations as the outsource of the state sovereignty. MIFEE failed but the same logic was adopted in the PSN which only further harm the indigenous community. The policy does not learn from failure in Central Kalimantan or any other parts of Indonesia.

We also found the competing interests among different administrations which resulted in political improvisation to twist regulations as the second Mbembe’s criterion of the postcolony suggests. For instance, the legal requirements of AMDAL, KLHS, permission of feasibility of the environment, prohibition of the involvement of the Indonesian military in civilian affairs, and more importantly, free prior informed consent from the affected community–all have never been fully fulfilled. Yudhoyono, Jokowi, and now Prabowo is determined to be the only game in town so each of them does not tolerate any competition.

Now Prabowo administration is the only one that has a chance to prove. That is why since day one of his administration, various ministeries have declared their determination to make PSN in Merauke a big success. Moreover, Haji Isam, the outsource, is fully mandated and protected to break the ground by constructing 135-kilometre road project to penetrate the Malind land regardless of the opposition of the landowner and serious and permanent destruction to the environment.

Finally, regime of violence, the last criterion of Mbembe’s postcolony, has been manifested in both the massive destruction of the environment and the role of military outside their jurisdiction. Despite all previous failures in other parts of Indonesia, PSN has no hesitation to bulldoze the ancestral land which equals the existence of the Malind while TNI are protecting the PSN, not the people.

The involvement of TNI is not limited to bad apples but as an institution. While such involvement is not novel in the Indonesian history, especially during Suharto’s New Order, it remains disturbing and illegal since Article 17 of Law 34/2004 regarding the Indonesian National Military clearly stipulates that any deployment of the Indonesian Military for non-combat operations requires a presidential decree with the approval of the National Parliament. To date, the continuous TNI’s deployment to West Papua does not comply with the legal requirement and thus poses legality and legitimacy questions.

TNI raises five battalions for Papua food resilience program 

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 October 2, 2024 20:00 GMT+700 Jakarta (ANTARA) – Commander of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI) General Agus Subiyanto on Wednesday inaugurated five infantry battalions (Yonif) to support the government’s food resilience program in Papua region.

The battalions will be dispatched to five regions of Papua to collaborate with the Agriculture Ministry and local residents to cultivate essential crops, including rice, he said.

“These battalions are specialized in different aspects, such as construction and production. We will carry out agricultural programs in Papua with their help,” he told journalists after the inauguration in the National Monument (Monas) area, Central Jakarta.

The battalions include Yonif 801/Ksatria Yuddha Kentswuri, which will be stationed in Keerom, Papua Province; Yonif 802/Wimane Mambe Jaya, which will be posted in Sarmi, Papua; Yonif 803/Nduka Adyatma Yuddha, which will be sent to Boven Digoel, South Papua; and Yonif 804/Dharma Bhakti Asasta Yudha, which will work in Merauke, South Papua.

Meanwhile, Yonif 805/Ksatria Satya Waninggap will be based in Sorong, Southwest Papua.

Based on data obtained by ANTARA, each infantry battalion consists of 691 personnel drawn from different regional military commands (Kodam) across the country.

Kodam I/Bukit Barisan has dispatched 150 soldiers, Kodam II/Sriwijaya 150 soldiers, Kodam III/Siliwangi 450 personnel, Kodam IV/Diponegoro 400 officers, Kodam V/Brawijaya 230 personnel, and Kodam VI/Mulawarman has fielded 25 officers for the battalions.

Furthermore, Kodam IX/Udayana has contributed 306 soldiers, Kodam XII/Tanjungpura 43 officers, Kodam XIII/Merdeka 157 personnel, Kodam XIV/Hasanuddin 225 soldiers, Kodam XVI/Pattimura 294 officers, Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih 100 soldiers, and Kodam XVIII/Kasuari has sent 20 personnel.

Meanwhile, the Jaya Kodam of Jakarta and Iskandar Muda Kodam of Aceh have contributed 350 and 100 soldiers, respectively, to the special battalions. 

“Human Rights in Indonesia” side event will address crises in West Papua

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WCC. 30 September 2024

A side event to the 57th UN Human Rights Council entitled “Human Rights in Indonesia,” hosted by the World Council of Churches (WCC) and partner organizations on 1 October, will address the dire human rights situation in West Papua, with ongoing violations that include extra-judicial killings, internal displacement due to armed conflict, restrictions on civil liberties, and a growing number of cases of land grabbing.

This event will bring together grassroots representatives and experts to explore practical actions that the UN Human Rights Council and national and international actors could take to address the deepening human rights and humanitarian crises in West Papua.

The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal will also present the findings of its July 2024 public hearings, during which it examined a body of evidence on the environmental impacts of development projects and related human rights violations in the region.

In the first six months of 2024, extra-judicial killings linked to the ongoing armed conflict between the Indonesian security forces and the West Papua National Liberation Army (OPM-TPNPB) have been recorded. A surge in armed conflict has been reported in the period April-June 2024 which has continued to drive internal displacement among the Indigenous Papuan people. As of September 2024, 79,867 people are internally displaced with no access to basic necessities such as food, healthcare services and education, and limited access to employment opportunities. If they return to their villages and homes, they are confronted with a heavy security presence, and constant intimidation and surveillance.

A growing number of cases of land grabbing have been reported from the regencies of Merauke, Mimika, Deiyai, and Sorong in the period April-June 2024, reflecting a growing trend of private investors capturing land and natural resources without obtaining free, prior and informed consent from Indigenous Papuans.

There is an urgent need for the Indonesian government to immediately address the conflict and associated human rights violations, abuses, and impunity through sustainable solutions based on the principles of human rights.

Peter Prove, director of the WCC Commission of the Churches on International Affairs (CCIA), will moderate the discussion. 

“The Indonesian government provides very limited transparency regarding the situation in West Papua, and even less access to the region,” he said. “Accordingly, the WCC is grateful that through cooperation with its civil society partners we can bring information regarding the longstanding humanitarian and human rights crisis endured by the Indigenous Papuan people to the attention of the Human Rights Council, and to the wider international community. We continue to hope that by sharing this information, the long overdue concern of the international community may yet be galvanized.”

Join this event live , Tuesday, 1 October, 13:00 CEST 

(Meeting ID 3353 -CR25  “Human Rights in Indonesia”, Meeting number: 2744 604 7986 Password: ufTQvPJJ877) 

Yahukimo Police intimidate KNPB members in Yahukimo – House search carried out without warrant

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Cases / Indonesia, West Papua / 19 September 2024 

https://humanrightsmonitor.org/case/yahukimo-police-intimidate-knpb-members-in-yahukimo

On 14 August 2024, members of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) in the Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, Papua Pegunungan Province, experienced acts of intimidation and unauthorised search by members of the 1715 Kodim (military district command) and Brimob (mobile brigade corps). The operation was led by Yahukimo Police Chief, Commissioner Heru Hidayanto. Six KNPB members were present at their office when the security forces arrived, resulting in a tense confrontation and forceful entry into the KNPB office.

The incident began with surveillance activities on 13 August 20214, with two vehicles monitoring the KNPB office. On August 14, the surveillance intensified. At 3:20 pm, a large contingent of security forces, comprising nine vehicles including armoured cars and patrol vehicles from various units, arrived at the KNPB office. Despite attempts by KNPB members to negotiate and clarify that no demonstrations were planned for 15 August 2024, the security forces forcibly entered the office without providing a warrant. They searched the office and took photographs of the premises. The operation concluded around 3:40 pm when the forces withdrew. 

The incident raises serious concerns about respect for civil liberties, freedom of association, and the use of intimidation tactics against political activists in West Papua, Indonesia.

Security force vehicles approaching the KNPB office in the Dekai District, Yahukimo Regency, on 14 August 2024

Detailed Case Data
name of the location: Dekai (-4.874653772472966, 139.48856096842403)
administrative region: Indonesia, Papua Pegunungan Province, Yahukimo Regency, Dekai District
total number of victims: six
period of incident: 14.08.2024
perpetrator: police, other security forces
perpetrator details: 1715 Kodim and Brimob
Issues: freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly, indigenous peoples, intimidation 
Sources: 
Further HRM News:

NumberName, DetailsGenderAgeGroup AffiliationViolations
6unknownunknownunknownindigenous, activistfreedom of assembly, freedom of expression, intimidation

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Never mind the quality, feel the words

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By Duncan Graham Sep 4, 2024

The paperwork signing late last month by Defence Minister Richard Marles and his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto in Magelang (Central Java) is being paraded as an extraordinary advance in relationships. It’s not.

Why is this dud deal being sold like a Nobel Prize? Because scores of news outlets here and overseas are cutting-and-pasting press releases. In effect, much media has become a PR team for the government betraying voters.

Some facts to underpin this shameful assertion:

For the past two years, bureaucrats have been to-ing and fro-ing with the Australia-Indonesia Defence Cooperation Arrangement. Now ratified, it has become an “agreement”.

We, the Fourth Estate, aka chooks (as former Queensland Premier, Sir Joh Bjelke-Petersen called us hacks), haven’t had a peep inside the thick covers and so have to take what’s fed.

Something more nutritious may come if independent experts get the full text to decode definitions and reveal what we’ve sold to appease our huge neighbour.

Marles’ media says the deal is about complex joint activities and exercises. The two militaries can “operate from each other’s countries for mutually determined cooperative activities” and swap soldiers for education and training in science and technology, though these are not disciplines where Indonesia is internationally admired.

Much hullabaloo so the lads can don camouflage and play in the same sandpit – something they’ve done before and are doing now.

Through design or coincidence, that signing night ABC Australia telecast the 90-minute documentary Circle of Silence with Indonesian subtitles. It’s the story of the Balibo Five journalists in East Timor, killed in 1975 by Indonesian soldiers who knew the men were reporters.

Marles’ opposite number is also president-elect and will take over in October. He’s a former general with a dark past allegedly involving human rights abuses.

Researcher Pat Walsh, who was involved with the East Timor truth commission report, Chega! wrote: “As a member then a commander of Kopassus, Prabowo undertook at least four tours of duty in East Timor… (he was) anything but an innocent or bit player.

“Kopassus is the Indonesian military’s secretive ‘special operations’ force. It specialises in unconventional warfare, counter-insurgency, intelligence gathering and anti-terrorism.

“In plain English, locals are recruited and bribed to do Kopassus’s dirty work and, if necessary, to take the blame.”

(It is not suggested that Prabowo killed the Balibo Five. He has never been charged with war crimes.)

In 1998, he was cashiered for disobeying orders so he ran away to exile in Jordan. That fact has rarely been mentioned since he was convincingly elected in February with a 58% majority.

Ten days before the Magelang signing, Prabowo came to Canberra, ostensibly to approve the “arrangement”. But according to the AFR’s James Curran, his real mission was for “more Australian involvement in the Indonesian economy, especially in agriculture and countering narcotics”.

Apart from watching body language and facial expressions, why did any media bother to front the Canberra show? Journos were told “no questions”, suggesting the ministers fear inquiries and are unable to be straight with their employers, the public.

The men’s minders know any professional would ask Prabowo about blood on his hands, and his resulting fury would destroy the “arrangement”.

Transcribed texts show the two sides are not on the same page.

Marles said it was “profoundly historic” and “the deepest, the most significant agreement that our two countries have ever made”.

Profoundly nonsensical. In 1995, former prime minister Paul Keating secretly signed the Agreement on Maintaining Security with dictator and second president Soeharto.

That was a biggie, though four years later it was shredded by his successor, Bacharuddin Jusuf ‘BJ’ Habibie. He was furious the Australian-led peacekeeping force had entered Timor after the people had voted 8-2 to free themselves from Indonesian control.

Marles and Anthony Albanese said four times that their “arrangement” was about “security”. Prabowo used the word once and prefaced it with “food”. The best label he could muster was a “good neighbour agreement”.

Apart from language slippage, what’s not mentioned in diplomatic back-slaps is often more important. Absent was Australia’s new agreement with the US for their fighters, bombers and spy planes to use NT bases.

Also not in the handouts was Indonesia’s proposed law to let “active-duty personnel hold positions in civilian government ministries and agencies”.

If passed, the Republic will return to the last century dwifungsi (dual function) policy of soldiers controlling domestic departments irrespective of their skills and merits. (In most Western democracies civilian and military affairs are kept apart.)

Also ignored was the Indonesian military’s actions in West Papua, a prolonged and brutal campaign against independence seekers that’s allegedly taken thousands of lives.

Instead, Prabowo stressed that whatever subtexts might be imagined, there would be no revision of the county’s neutrality:

“As you know we are, by tradition, non-aligned. By tradition, our people do not want us to be involved in any geopolitical or military alliances or groupings. I myself, am determined to continue this policy.”

If Indonesians thought their nation was secretly sliding into the US camp through a deal with the region’s “deputy sheriff”, riots would result and Marles’ arrangement trashed.

He’s already crept close. In The Washington Post the Marles reportedly said: “We’re working together (with the US) to deter future conflict and to provide for the collective security of the region in which we live.”

While many elsewhere-based reporters parroted Marles media, The Australian’s Jakarta correspondent Amanda Hodge got her cautions buried on page four but accurately reflected the Jakarta view that the arrangement falls “well short of a mutual security guarantee” and without the weight of a “visiting forces agreement”.

Another realist was the ABC’s Stephen Dziedzic, noting Prabowo only said the two countries had made “great progress” in “ironing out legalistic details” in the arrangement. That’s the job negotiators are paid to perform.

While Marles was in Central Java about 200 Australian troops were dashing around East Java’s north coast in the two-week Super Garuda Shield exercises. Also with the Diggers are almost 2,000 US Marines, supposedly thinking about cyber threats plus toys that go bang.

In the smog of industrial Sidoarjo are sweating soldiers from NZ, Singapore, Canada, France, Thailand and the UK. Not China this time, though the PRC participated in 2009.

Before The Australian implies this means Indonesia is in the Western camp and the signings aimed at “countering growing Chinese threats”, Lachlan Murdoch should know this:

The annual fun-with-guns games have been underway since 2006; next year Beijing’s troops will be starring in yet another “bilateral training exercise”.

If this wasn’t so serious, the idea of Grunts helping Indonesia, then their Chinese equivalents doing the same thing would be a fine film plot. Title suggestion: Dancing with Demagogues.

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.