Indonesia’s new government pushes transmigration plan, stirring protests in Papua

The policy displaces and disenfranchises Indigenous Papuans

Originally published on Global Voices

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who assumed office on October 20, 2024, has announced the revival of the transmigration program, which encourages citizens to populate the country’s eastern region, including Papua — a province on the Easternmost side of the archipelago that has been fighting for independence from Java for decades. The Indonesian government said it seeks to promote the “people’s welfare,” but critics warn that the plan could further displace the Indigenous Papuan population.

Papua was annexed by Indonesia in 1963, but this was fiercely resisted by the local population and a self-determination movement continues to exist up to this day.

Indigenous Papuans have diverging ethnic roots from Javanese Indonesians as well as unique cultural traditions and histories.  Papuans have long faced racism, discrimination, violence, and displacement from Indonesia, which has fought to keep the resource-rich province.

In an effort to further gain control of Papua and quash any rebellion movements, between 1964 and 1999, the government implemented a transmigration program that facilitated the resettlement of 78,000 families from Indonesia’s densely populated islands, such as Java and Sumatra, to Papua. During this period, witnesses testified that “customary land was taken (and) forests were cut down” while the Indigenous Malind people were prohibited from speaking their native language. The program was paused in 2001, but unofficial transmigration has persisted.

In recent years, Indonesia escalated its military deployment, which led to intense clashes and militarization of communities. According to the United Nations, between 60,000 and 100,000 Papuans were affected by these operations.

Prabowo, a former military officer accused of abducting activists, was the son-in-law of the president who initiated the transmigration program. A few days after his inauguration, he visited Papua to check the progress in developing food estates intended to address the country’s food security. However, some Papuan groups have decried it as a deforestation program that threatens the region’s biodiversity and displaces local villagers.

The United Liberation Movement for West Papua highlighted the link between the transmigration revival and the forced conversion of forests into agricultural plantations:

It is not a coincidence Prabowo has announced a new transmigration programme at the same time as their ecocidal deforestation regime intensifies. These twin agenda represent the two sides of Indonesian colonialism in West Papua: exploitation and settlement. Indonesia only wants West Papua’s resources; they do not want our people.

The group’s leader saluted the Papuan students who organized protests against the transmigration policy:

West Papuan students resisting transmigration. These illegal settlement plans are a key part of Indonesia's genocide of West Papua and a deadly threat to our survival. If Melanesian leaders allow this to happen we will be wiped out @MsgSecretariat @ForumSEC @PngPles @DailypostVu pic.twitter.com/H5beps8VvI

— Benny Wenda (@BennyWenda) November 4, 2024

Human rights lawyer Veronica Koman posted photos and videos of protests in Papua against the transmigration plan

The people of West Papua have spoken.

Just today (15/11/24), rallies against Indonesia’s settler-colonial Transmigration plan were held in:

Jayapura, Nabire, Sorong, Manokwari, Yahukimo, Yalimo, Timika, Makassar. pic.twitter.com/u0ucw8RfUW

— Veronica Koman 許愛茜 (@VeronicaKoman) November 15, 2024

Civil society group Civicus has monitored that attacks against peaceful protests in Papua have intensified ahead of Prabowo’s inauguration.

Papuan activists were shot at, faced intimidation for their advocacy as well as harassment and ill-treatment for their activism. Attacks and killing of journalists has persisted, including in Papua.

In addition, five new battalions were deployed, and at least 2,000 troops were sent to Papua in September and October.

Father John Bunay, chairman of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of Jayapura diocese, sounded alarm over the seizure of lands in Papua. “There are so many migrants coming to Papua. There has been a seizure of living space from the indigenous Papuan people by non-Papuans.”

The International Parliamentarians for West Papua has called on the Indonesian government to allow the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to check the situation in Papua. The group also criticized the potential negative impact of reviving the transmigration program.

The aim of transmigration was to dilute the Indigenous Melanesian population, while securing control of West Papua’s rich natural resource base.

Transmigration has produced structural discrimination in education, land rights, and employment. There is a high level of income and wealth inequality between Papuans and Indonesians, while migrants dominate the labour market.

But Transmigration Minister Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara asserted that the program will not simply relocate people but “enhance the quality of human resources through socio-cultural approaches.” He added:

Our main focus is no longer merely the relocation of people, a measure misinterpreted as transferring poverty from one place to another in the past. Instead, we will exert all-out efforts to alleviate poverty, boosting people's welfare.

Written by Mong Palatino