National Strategic Project that confiscates indigenous Papuan land and endangers their social and cultural identity must be stopped

 Already underway, this project violates the rights of indigenous peoples.  

 

"The project is brutal, without any socialisation and without prior consultation to obtain agreement from the indigenous community. The company's excavators and bulldozers entered our indigenous territory, ran amok, evicted and destroyed natural forests, hamlets and swamps," explained Father Pius Manu, a religious figure and owner of indigenous land. 

 

The policy and implementation of the PSN Merauke food estate project, without clear and transparent information, fails to respect customary authorities and norms, and has not conducted necessary social and environmental assessments as mandated by the constitution and various laws.  

Peaceful demonstrations to halt the progress of the project have been ignored…

In the early months of the rice project, indigenous Papuans living in the project area had already begun protesting, saying they were never properly informed or consulted with. 

On Oct. 2, National Military Commander, Agus Subiyanto, inaugurated five battalions in the region to support the project’s implementation, in coordination with the ministry of Agriculture.  

State security forces facilitated the entry of vehicles and supported operations for forest clearing associated with the new rice field project in Wanam, Ilwayab District, Merauke Regency. Despite indigenous people's efforts to establish customary prohibition signs, the excavator damaged and destroyed their traditional lands (sasi). 

 

"The Maklew indigenous people in the Ilwayab, Tubang and Okaba Districts, have stated openly before the acting Governor of South Papua that they reject the project to create new rice fields and other crops, that clears out customary land, hamlets and forests, which constitute the source of life of the indigenous people, without deliberations and free consent of the indigenous peoples and land owners. However, the company, accompanied by armed military personnel, arbitrarily cleared out and took over customary land," said Simon Balagaize, Coordinator of the Malind Anim Kondo - Digoel Indigenous People Forum. 

"We are hurt and grieving because our customary land and forest, the habitat of animals and the sacred place of Alipinek that we protect, inherited from our ancestors, were destroyed without a trace," said Yasinta Gebze, a representative of the affected indigenous community from Wobikel Village, Ilwayab District, Merauke Regency, South Papua Province. 

 

In the Jagebob and Senayu Districts, the PSN Merauke Food and Energy Development is facilitating the establishment of sugarcane plantation companies, including subsidiaries of the Global Papua Abadi (GPA) Group. However, these companies have not demonstrated a commitment to sustainable business practices, have engaged in deforestation, and have failed to uphold the rights of indigenous peoples. 

GPA companies employ security forces and private individuals to pressure the community, offering monetary compensation to persuade them to relinquish their land. 

 

"We are not selling our customary land, the forests and hamlets owned by the clan are not large, we want to manage them ourselves for our livelihoods and food sources, for our children and grandchildren," said Vincent Kwipalo, a Yei Tribe member who rejected the sugarcane plantation project, even though the company had staked out his land and made a letter of transfer of land rights. 

 

The large-scale displacement, destruction, and loss of forests, villages, wetlands, and peatlands linked to this project will exacerbate the environmental crisis, which is already a matter of global concern. 

 

"The new one-million-hectare rice field area and the GPA Group's sugarcane plantation are located within forest areas that fall under the moratorium on new permits, or the Indicative Map of Suspension of New Permits (PIPIB). More than 30 percent of the GPA Group's area, or around 145,644 hectares, is located in PIPIB.  

 

 

Therefore, this project poses a significant environmental risk, primarily by increasing greenhouse gas emissions, which cumulatively worsen the ecological crisis. Furthermore, the GPA Group's permits largely overlap with the customary land of the Yeinan indigenous community, covering 316,711 hectares, posing socio-economic and cultural risks," said Franky Samperante, an Environmental Human Rights Defender. 

 

The principles and provisions of sustainable development require planners and implementers to possess environmental documents, conduct high conservation value assessments, high carbon stock assessments, and uphold indigenous peoples’ right to FPIC (Free Prior Informed Consent).  

The onslaught of the PSN Merauke project and natural resource extraction business, covering more than two million hectares, will inevitably bring in and mobilise new residents (transmigrants) from outside Papua. This threatens to cause depopulation and marginalisation, ultimately erasing the social and cultural identity of the Indigenous Papuans and displacing them socio-economically, a process referred to as ethnocide. 

 

"The PSN Merauke project must be stopped as it violates the constitution and regulations concerning the right to life, indigenous people's rights, land rights, the right to free expression, the right to development, the right to food and nutrition, the right to a good and healthy environment, and the principles of sustainable development goals," explained Teddy Wakum, spokesperson for Solidaritas Merauke and an activist from LBH Papua Pos Merauke. 

 

During a protest in front of the Ministry of Defense in Jakarta (October 16, 2024), Solidaritas Merauke urged the President of Indonesia, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Agriculture, and the Minister of Investment/Head of the Investment Coordinating Board to immediately halt the PSN Merauke project for sugarcane and bioethanol development, as well as the new one-million-hectare rice field project. 

Jakarta, October 16, 2024 

#SolidaritasMerauke #SavePapua #SavetheEarth 

Contact Persons: 

Teddy Wakum: +62 822-4245-0431 

Franky Samperante: +62 811-1256-019 

Further information and context: 

In November 2023, the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs, Airlangga Hartarto, issued the Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Regulation (Permenko) Number 8 of 2023 concerning the Fourth Amendment to Permenko Number 7 of 2021 concerning Amendments to the List of National Strategic Projects (PSN) in November 2023, which added the list of National Strategic Projects in Papua, namely the Merauke Food and Energy Development Area in South Papua Province, which is promoted and planned over an area of ​​more than 2 (two) million hectares in the Food Production Center Area (KSPP). 

The KSPP area consists of five clusters and is spread across 13 districts. The entire location of the Merauke PSN food estate project is in the customary territory of the Malind, Maklew, Khimaima and Yei indigenous peoples. It is estimated that more than 50,000 indigenous people living in 40 villages around and within the project location will be affected by the Merauke PSN project.  

In practice, the Merauke PSN for new rice field projects and other crops is managed by the Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Agriculture, and the private company Jhonlin Group owned by Haji Andi Syamsuddin Arsyad alias Haji Isam, with an area of ​​1 (one) million hectares. Other Merauke PSNs, namely the development of sugar cane and bioethanol plantations, are managed by 10 (ten companies) with an area of ​​more than 500,000 hectares and supported by the Sugar and Bioethanol Self-Sufficiency Acceleration Task Force.