Church leaders ask Indonesia to scrap transmigration plan

 https://www.ucanews.com/news/church-leaders-ask-indonesia-to-scrap-transmigration-plan/106965

Church leaders ask Indonesia to scrap transmigration plan

They support ethnic people’s struggle to protect their ancestral land in the conflict-stricken Papua province

By UCA News reporter Published: November 11, 2024 11:44 AM GMT

Church leaders in conflict-stricken Papua have urged the Indonesian government to stop the transmigration and new rice field programs that will destroy indigenous lands.

The land acquisitions by Indonesian and foreign firms are leading to the destruction of tropical rainforests, biodiversity, and indigenous lands, said the Papuan Council of Churches and a coalition of indigenous Catholic priests in an appeal on Nov. 11.

The appeal was issued following President Pabowo Subianto’s plan to open 2 million hectares of new rice fields in southern Papua. Nearly 200 excavators will be sent to the former Dutch colony to work as part of the new project.

The Church leaders criticized Subianto’s plan to implement a transmigration program in the region under which non-Papuans would be sent to the easternmost region.

Father John Bunay from the indigenous community, who is also chairman of the Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission of Jayapura diocese, said this was an attempt to destroy the existence and culture of Papuans.

“There are so many migrants coming to Papua. There has been a seizure of living space from the indigenous Papuan people by non-Papuans," he said while reading the appeal with other priests and pastors.

Currently, around 75,000 Papuans are displaced due to the freedom struggle in the conflict-stricken province which has worsened since 2018, the priest said.

He added that the government has sent thousands of military personnel to Papua since 2019.

The Church leaders said the government must learn from the failure of the food estate programs carried out by former Presidents Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Joko Widodo.

"At that time, idle land was converted into rice fields but abandoned later," they said.

Unfortunately, President Prabowo "is repeating the same” mistake, the Church leaders alleged.

They said they are inspired by Pope Francis' ecological encyclical Laudato si (praise be to you).  

"We support indigenous peoples’ rights to defend their ancestral lands because it is the source of their livelihood," they said.

Pastor Benny Giyai, moderator of the Papua Church Council, asked the military and police not to target indigenous people who carry out “peaceful resistance movements.”

They said the appeal was sent to envoys of countries cooperating with Indonesia, including those that provide funds.

In the appeal, they criticized the statement of Archbishop Petrus Canisius Mandagi of Merauka, who supported the plan to establish new rice fields.

Mandagi’s meetings with investors and military officers have circulated on social media.

At a time when the Catholics of Papua were “sad and angry because their land was destroyed,” the archbishop praised the project, they said.

Catholic layman Soleman Itlay said the archbishop was “more on the side of the authorities and companies than the community and Catholics."

Mandagi declined to comment, telling UCA News, "Let them criticize me."

"They already have negative thoughts about me," the prelate said.

Papua has a population of 4.3 million and Christians make up 85.02 percent – Protestants 69.39 percent and Catholics 15.63 percent.

The Papuans want to free their region from Indonesian control, but Indonesia looks to suppress it militarily. The region is home to the world's largest gold mine, as well as extensive sources of natural gas, minerals, timber and palm oil.

The struggle, ongoing since 1962, is estimated to have killed up to 500,000 people. At least 300 people have died in the last decade.

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