JUBI, 21 February, 2011
DAP rejects transmigration
The chairman of DAP, the Papuan Traditional Council, has called on the
Indonesian government to be more judicious about plans to send yet more
transmigrants to Papua.
Forkorus Yaboisembut said that plans by the Transmigration Department to
move more transmigrants into Papua was a matter of great concern.
'I very much hope that Papua will not yet again be the target for more
transmigrants because this is turning the Papuan people into a minority
in their own homeland.'
He went on to say that sending more transmigrants in Papua was creating
many more problems. In addition to turning local communities into
minorities, it is also fostering feelings of jealousy because the
majority of people who run businesses and own plenty of capital are
those who have come from other parts of Indonesia.
Transmigration is also resulting in local Papuan cultures being swamped
by cultures from outside.
The government has announced that it has allocated Rp 600 billion to
cover the cost of bringing more transmigrants to Papua from other
parts of the country. The new transmigration programme is scheduled to
continue until 2014.