1) Conflict in Indonesia’s Papua uproots thousands while state assistance lags
2) Health negligence case triggers public discussions on health crisis in West Papua: Papuan pregnant woman dies in Jayapura after being rejected by four hospitals
3) Papuan patient repeatedly denied treatment by five hospitals in Jayapura despite his critical condition
1) Conflict in Indonesia’s Papua uproots thousands while state assistance lags
While the government has largely focused on responding to the situation with increased military deployments, Emmanuel Gobay, head of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute’s Papua desk, said thousands of displaced residents had received little to no state support.
Dio Suhenda The Jakarta Post
November 27, 2025
JAKARTA – Prolonged armed conflict in Papua has forced more than 100,000 indigenous people, most of them women and children, to flee their homes. The government’s failure to provide adequate protection has also left many displaced families struggling to meet basic needs, prompting serious concerns from rights advocates.
Resource-rich Papua has endured clashes between separatists and security forces since the 1970s, but hostilities have surged since 2018, marked by more frequent and deadlier confrontations between the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB), the armed wing of the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
While the government has largely focused on responding to the situation with increased military deployments, Emmanuel Gobay, head of the Foundation of the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute’s (YLBHI) Papua desk, said thousands of displaced residents had received little to no state support.
“In the midst of the armed-conflict emergency, churches have become the first responders, providing humanitarian assistance to refugees, many of whom are women and children,” said Emmanuel, who also coordinates the Rumah Solidaritas Papua (Papua Solidarity House) coalition, during a media visit to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
The coalition comprises 15 civil society organizations including Amnesty International Indonesia, the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), the Legal Aid Institute for the Press (LBH Pers) and YLBHI.
“What is increasingly concerning is the government’s continued absence in fulfilling the basic rights of displaced residents. This is clearly a state responsibility, yet their contribution remains largely nonexistent,” Emmanuel said.
Data from the Papua Council of Churches shows that since hostilities escalated in 2018 up to October this year, at least 103,218 people, mostly indigenous women and children, have been displaced across Papua.
Emmanuel said many displaced children have seen their education severely disrupted, either because they were forced to flee or because the TNI has established security posts near schools in conflict zones, putting them at risk of becoming targets in separatist attacks.
Women face similar dangers, ranging from the loss of livelihood, to heightened vulnerability and gender-based violence. He cited the 2023 rape and murder of two displaced women in Yahukimo, Papua Highlands, who were assaulted and killed by unidentified perpetrators while searching for food.
“What we want to show here is that the state’s failure to ensure basic rights has pushed refugees into these degrading conditions,” Emmanuel continued.
Also on Tuesday, Kontras’ Yahya Iharoza said the crisis stemmed in part from the government’s refusal to clarify the legal status of the conflict, even as it continues to send large contingents of security forces to Papua.
Kontras recorded that 21,000 combined military and police personnel have been deployed to the country’s easternmost region since 2022. Of these, around 2,600 are police officers and the rest are TNI troops.
“The conflict in Papua continues to violate basic rights, and the TNI’s placement of security posts near civilian buildings has forced residents to flee. Yet the state has offered no compensation, and refugees still lack access to basic education and healthcare,” Yahya added.
In response, Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai acknowledged that large numbers of Papuans have been uprooted by the conflict and said his office had visited several affected areas to meet with refugees and local officials.
Although responsibility for handling displaced people is shared across ministries, Pigai said his office intended to take on a more substantial role. He said the ministry had formed a special Papua team led by its director general for human rights development.
“By the end of the year, we will finalize our recommendations and begin coordinating with relevant ministries, agencies and local administrations [to handle the refugees],” Pigai told the Post on Wednesday. “Resolving the issues in Papua must be done comprehensively.”
When asked whether the continued TNI presence has exacerbated the refugee crisis, Pigai said that the government was still assessing the factors behind the displacement and could not draw yet conclusions.
TNI spokesperson Maj. Gen. Freddy Ardianzah, however, disputed claims that military operations were forcing civilians to flee, arguing that most residents had escaped “terror and intimidation” by the TPNPB, including the burning of public facilities and attacks on civilians.
“Don’t get it twisted. In the establishment of TNI security posts and the proportional, effective and measured use of force against the OPM, we succeeded in driving them into the forests and mountains. As a result, displaced residents have been able to return home,” he said on Wednesday.
On Monday, Defense Minister Sjafrie Samsoeddin said Papua was one of three “centers of gravity” prioritized by President Prabowo Subianto.
To this end, he said the TNI would deploy additional troops under what he described as a “smart approach”, combining soft and hard tactics aimed at “winning the hearts” of Papuan communities.
2) Health negligence case triggers public discussions on health crisis in West Papua: Papuan pregnant woman dies in Jayapura after being rejected by four hospitals
26 November 2025 / 5 minutes of reading
On 16 and 17 November 2025, Mrs Irene Sokoy, a pregnant indigenous Papuan woman living on one of the small islands in Lake Sentani, Jayapura Regency, Papua Province, died together with her unborn baby after being denied emergency care by four hospitals in Jayapura Regency and Jayapura City, Papua Province, in West Papua (see photo on top). Mrs Sokoy went into labour on 16 November and was first taken by speedboat to the Yowari Regional Public Hospital (RSUD Yowari). She was not provided with timely life-saving obstetric surgery for more than 14 hours and was repeatedly referred onwards without effective stabilisation and coordination. The incident caused outrage and triggered government responses, given that the tragedy unfolded in Jayapura, the most developed and largest urban settlement in the entire West Papua region. This allows the conclusion that the health reality in other parts of the region is even worse. Maternal and infant mortality in the six Papuan provinces remains the highest in Indonesia, far above national averages, despite large special autonomy funds being channelled to push development in West Papua for more than 20 years.
After admission to the RSUD Yowari, Mrs Irene Sokoy was examined and then transferred to the delivery room. When her waters broke and signs of foetal distress appeared, doctors wanted to perform a caesarean section, but no obstetrician was available at RSUD Yowari. Mrs Sokoy was referred to the Dian Harapan Hospital in Waena, Jayapura City, where she was reportedly rejected because all BPJS class 3 (the lowest class in the Indonesian National Health Insurance Scheme) rooms were full. She was brought to Abepura Regional Public Hospital (RSUD Abepura) but was rejected again because the operating theatre was under renovation. She was finally admitted to the Bhayangkara Police Hospital, which allegedly demanded a cash deposit of IDR 4 million despite her emergency condition and BPJS coverage. Despite having health coverage, no hospital assumed responsibility for immediate life-saving treatment. During the odyssey, Mrs Sokoy’s condition deteriorated inside the ambulance. She and her unborn baby died inside the ambulance en route in the early hours of 17 November 2025.
Across the Papuan provinces in eastern Indonesia (West Papua), indigenous Papuan communities face a pattern of dangerous neglect in healthcare, particularly in emergency and referral services. Local human rights defenders report that restrictive policies and practices around essential medicines, combined with chronic shortages of facilities, equipment, and specialist doctors in hospitals, have contributed to hundreds of preventable deaths. An administrative system that ties access to treatment to formal identity documents and BPJS health insurance systematically disadvantages indigenous Papuan patients who lack ID cards or BPJS registration, or who are registered only for low-tier (class 3) schemes. Even in the provincial capital area around Jayapura City and Jayapura Regency, Papua Province, where facilities and personnel should be relatively complete, mortality rates remain high; patients from rural and conflict-affected districts in West Papua face even greater barriers. Cases like the death of Mrs Sokoy or the repeated denial of medical treatment to Mr Kiliur Wakerkwa despite suffering acute injuries in September 2025 illustrate a wider pattern in which hospitals repeatedly refuse or delay life-saving care on administrative status or ability to pay, undermining the right to life and the right to health of indigenous Papuan patients.
Human rights analysis
From a human rights perspective, the death of Mrs Irene Sokoy and the stillbirth of her baby constitute a preventable maternal death resulting from denial and obstruction of emergency obstetric care, in violation of the right to life and the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Under national law, such conduct would breach Article 174 of Law No. 17/2023 on Health, which obliges all health facilities to treat critical cases, prohibits refusal of emergency patients, and bans advance payment demands or administrative delays in emergencies. The sequence of refusals, delays, and demands for payment by four hospitals in Jayapura Regency and Jayapura City appears to violate the right to life and the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including sexual and reproductive health, as guaranteed under the ICCPR, ICESCR, CEDAW, and CRC. The reported demand for a cash deposit from a poor, indigenous Papuan BPJS patient, combined with repeated referrals without stabilisation or timely caesarean section, suggests discriminatory and degrading treatment of an indigenous woman in a life-threatening situation and may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in a medical setting.
The State has the duty to ensure an effective, prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation, in addition to the internal audits currently initiated by health and administrative authorities. Indonesia must examine not only individual negligence but also structural failings in the health system in the Papuan provinces, including the breakdown of the referral chain, the lack of 24-hour PONEK capacity, and entrenched financial and geographic barriers for indigenous Papuan women.
Where evidence confirms unlawful refusal of care, negligent omissions, or unlawful financial demands, the authorities should pursue criminal accountability under the Indonesian Criminal Code, apply appropriate administrative sanctions under hospital and health legislation, and provide effective remedies to Mrs Sokoy’s family. More broadly, the State is required to adopt concrete, time-bound measures to reduce the extremely high maternal and infant mortality rates in all Papuan Provinces, ensuring that indigenous women in remote communities enjoy equal, non-discriminatory access to essential maternal health services.
3) Papuan patient repeatedly denied treatment by five hospitals in Jayapura despite his critical condition
26 November 2025 / 4 minutes of reading
On 27 September 2025, Mr Kiliur Wakerkwa, an indigenous Papuan farmer from Nawa Mulya Village, Yapsi District, Jayapura Regency, Papua Province, suffered serious injuries in an accident at SP 2 at around 1:00 pm. He was first taken to the SP 1 health centre (puskesmas) approximately 5 kilometres away, which issued a referral letter to Yowari Regional Public Hospital (RSUD). By around 4:00 pm, significant blood on his body had not yet been cleaned, and his wounds had not been adequately attended to. Thereupon, his family transported him themselves to RSUD Yowari, arriving late that night, around 10:25 pm. According to the relatives, the hospital refused to admit him because no surgeon was available and referred him to RSUD Abepura in Jayapura City, where the family was informed that the ward was under renovation and the hospital could not accept patients. Health workers at RSUD Abepura told the family to admit the patient to the RSUD Dok II Jayapura (Dok 2).
When they reached the Dok 2 Regional Public Hospital, staff again refused admission, reportedly claiming that the surgeon was on a two-month leave. The family then drove on to Marthen Indey Hospital in Jayapura, where they arrived in the middle of the night and were told to wait. After about two hours, they were informed that the ward was full and that he could not be admitted. The family next sought help at Bhayangkara Police Hospital, but the costs were far beyond their means. Desperate and unable to pay, they returned with Kiliur to the RSUD Yowari at around 04:00 pm on 28 September 2025. Once again, the relatives were told to wait while Mr Wakerkwa was lying inside the car in the hospital car park until around 07:00 am, with his condition deteriorating and his wounds still inadequately treated.
Only after a member of the Jayapura Regency Regional Representative Council (DPRD), named Nandison Karoba, learned of the situation and visited the hospital, did the medical staff intervene. He reportedly pressured nurses to treat the patient and at least provide intravenous fluids. However, the medication and infusion administered were allegedly given in excessive doses, triggering an allergic reaction and causing Mr Wakerkwa’s face to swell. Fearing that remaining in the hospital would worsen his condition, the family decided on 29 September to take him home, where they treated Mr Kwakerkwa with traditional medicine until he recovered.
Human rights and legal analysis
From a human rights perspective, the denial of health treatment to patients in critical condition violates the right to the highest attainable standard of health. Under national law, such conduct would violate Article 174 of Law No. 17/2023 on Health, which requires all health facilities to treat critical cases, prohibits the refusal of emergency patients, and bans advance payment demands or administrative delays in emergencies. Under international human rights law, the sequence of refusals, delays, and demands for payment by four hospitals in Jayapura Regency and Jayapura City constitutes a violation of the right to the highest attainable standard of health as guaranteed under the ICCPR and ICESCR. The reported demand for a cash deposit from a poor, indigenous Papuan patient, combined with repeated referrals, suggests discriminatory and degrading treatment of indigenous peoples in a potentially life-threatening situation and may amount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in a medical setting.
The State has the duty to ensure an effective, prompt, thorough, independent, and impartial investigation, in addition to the internal audits currently initiated by health and administrative authorities. Indonesia must examine not only individual negligence but also structural failings in the health system in the Papuan provinces, including the breakdown of the referral chain, the lack of 24-hour PONEK capacity, and entrenched financial and geographic barriers for indigenous Papuans.
Where evidence confirms unlawful refusal of care, negligent omissions, or unlawful financial demands, the authorities should pursue criminal accountability under the Indonesian Criminal Code, apply appropriate administrative sanctions under hospital and health legislation. More broadly, the State is required to adopt concrete, time-bound measures to ensure that indigenous Papuans in urban and remote communities enjoy equal, non-discriminatory access to essential health services.
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