Papuan college students stage a protest in front of Merdeka Building, Bandung, West Java, May 10, 2022. A string of demonstrations in multiple cities were planned earlier but called off following the non-approval of permit by authorities.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Human rights watchdog the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) on Friday condemned the democratic setback showcased by the government in the form of passing three draft bills to expand Papua’s autonomous regions. The passed law officially legalizes three new provinces in South Papua Province, Central Papua Province, and Papua Highlands Province.
“This legal passing is a form of government’s coercion of will as the legalization of the draft bills had not undergone legitimate procedures,” said KontraS deputy coordinator Rivanlee Anandar in a written statement on Friday, July 1.
He believed the government had shown recklessness and failed to involve Papuans, which he believed had massively protested against the expansion. “This surely is like adding salt to the wound of indigenous Papuans,” he added.
According to Rivanlee, the Indonesian government and the House of Representatives (DPR) have failed to maximize dialogue that included locals, and the passing of the laws did not get approval from the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP).
He added this was contrary to Article 76 of the Special Autonomy Law, which mandates that the division of provinces and districts/cities into provinces and regencies/municipalities can be carried out with the approval of the MRP and the DPRP after seriously paying attention to socio-cultural unity, the readiness of human resources, economic capabilities, and future developments.
KontraS suspected there were business and economic motives behind the government’s adamance of expanding the number of provinces in Papua. He believed various locations, such as Intan Jaya regency, are allegedly home to abundant natural resources that are prone to exploitation.
M ROSSENO AJI
Jayapura, Jubi – Chairman of the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP) Timotius Murib said that ratifying the three bills for the expansion of Papua into law was the wish of the central government in Jakarta, not the wish of the Papuan people.
Murib said the Papuan people were never involved in the discussion of the Papua expansion or the discussion of Law No. 2/2021 on the Second Amendment to Law No. 21/2001 on Special Autonomy (Otsus) for Papua Province. The New Papua Special Autonomy Law, which becomes the legal basis for the formation of three new provinces in Papua, is currently being requested by the MRP to be reviewed by the Constitutional Court.
Murib said the central government recklessly passed the Papua expansion bill into law. According to him, this only shows that the expansion of Papua only aims to control Papua’s natural resources, not to improve the welfare of the Papuan people.
“So the interests of the people are ignored. The three Papua expansion laws are what Jakarta wants, not the wishes of the Papuans,” said Murib at the online conference held by the Papuan Humanitarian Coalition on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
Murib said one of the officials in a joint meeting with the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs said that the state carried out the Papua expansion to narrow the space for the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB).
“That was conveyed by one of the deputies who accompanied Coordinating Minister Mahfud MD. This means that the expansion of Papua is not for the welfare of the people, but to bring as many militaries as possible to Papua,” said Murib.
Murib said the central government should instead evaluate the implementation of Papua’s Special Autonomy which has been running for 20 years in Papua since the first Otsus Law was passed.
In line with Murib, Ika Mulait of the Papuan People’s Petition said the central government had never heard the voices of the Papuan people who repeatedly rejected the expansion of Papua. According to her, the policies implemented by the central government only benefited the government without listening to the wishes of the Papuan people.
“The government only sees what is good for them without seeing the negative impact of Papua expansion on the Papuan people,” she said.
Mulait said the formation of new provinces in Papua would be used as an excuse for the central government to bring in large numbers of security forces to Papua. She considered it a risk of increasing human rights violations in Papua. “People are traumatized by the military,” she said.
The House of Representatives in a plenary meeting on Thursday has ratified the three bills for the expansion of Papua into law. The three bills passed on Thursday were the Bill for the Establishment of the Central Papua Province, the Bill for the Establishment of the Papuan Highlands Province, and the Bill for the Establishment of the South Papua Province. (*)
Jayapura, Jubi – Head of Student Unit for Democracy, Human Rights and the Environment (Dehaling) Jhon Fredi Tebai said that the formation of new autonomous regions or new provinces in Papua would threaten the forests, a place for indigenous peoples to forage and live. He said the forests would be destroyed and lost due to massive and excessive infrastructure development, as well as activities of large-scale companies.
“There are many companies that will enter Papua, including palm oil companies, which will take up thousands of hectares, the impact of which is deforestation. The sources of life for the Papuan people were lost as the development entered, with environmental pollution coming from waste of small and big companies, both in the forest and at sea,” Tebai told Jubi via WhatsApp message on Thursday, June 30, 2022.
“We students are worried about environmental damage due to waste disposal or garbage. If inhaled by humans, it is likely that they will deteriorate the human’s health. Several existing companies have polluted the environment, both the soil and the air we breathe,” said Tebai.
“Papuans support their families by working the land. Therefore, the government must think carefully about this environmental aspect,” he added.
Politics and Government lecturer at the Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Gadjah Mada University, Arie Ruhyanto said the Papua expansion would increase the flow of migration to Papua to meet the human resources needs in companies and in the new regional government.
“However, migration can lead to reduced economic space and job opportunities for indigenous Papuans when they cannot equally compete with non-Papuans. There are concerns that the benefit of the expansion will only be felt by non-Papuans because they have adequate networks and capabilities,” he said.(*)
Indonesia's parliament passed legislation on Thursday to create three new provinces in its underdeveloped region
of Papua, a move critics fear could undermine the standing of the area's indigenous population and threaten special autonomy powers.
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