Article published in ViveVersaonline, a Dutch on line magazine for development
coöperation
[www.viceversaonline.nl]
Translation Pro Papua.
‘Feed Indonesia, then feed the world’. Backed by this slogan Indonesia
companies are buying land in the Indonesian province of West Papua in
order to
grow crops. Papuans themselves however are not reaping the benefits
from this economic activity. Instead, they see their forests, known as
the ‘lungs of
Asia’, disappear.
The villagers of Kaliki in West Papua receive 25 rupiahs per square
meter of land, which is less than 0,03 eurocents. They still haven’t
seen the contract
with the company Medco Group. Apparently this contract is of indefinite
duration, so the chances of ever regaining ownership of their lands
appear scant.
The person that is brave enough to oppose these practices only needs to
be reminded of what happened in a neighboring village. A critical
question of a
local inhabitant was answered with three bullets.
Zefnat Kuhubun, a minister from Kaliki tells his story during the yearly
Dutch Papua Solidarity Day, organized this year on February 2nd by the
Papua Working
Group in Amersfoort. “People are selling their land very cheaply. The
companies promise jobs to the villagers but nothing is happening.
Companies
spread discord within and between families and tribes. To prevent
conflict in their village, a lot of Papuans see no other option than to
sell their land.”
Meanwhile, the motorbikes that villagers have bought from the companies
with the 14.000 rupiahs they earned with the land sale proved to be
defective.
“They betrayed us”, says Kuhubun.
MIFEE
Kaliki is not an isolated case. In numerous villages in Merauke
companies negotiate unfair deals with Papua, or worse, ignore the local
population and
deal directly with the Indonesian government. Although land grabbing in
Papua is not a recent phenomenon, large scale land acquisition has
increased since
the Indonesian government started the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) agricultural program in 2010.
The program was started in response to the food crisis of 2008. With the
slogan ‘Feed Indonesia, then feed the world’, the government wants to
make
sure that Indonesia can meet its own food and energy needs, and export
the surplus. The government intends to use the land for the production
of palm
oil, sugar and rice. Besides that, companies have set their sights on
West Papua’s large forests for the production of biomass and wood
shavings. The
majority of the companies are Indonesian, but there are companies from South Korea, China and Singapore as well.
The goal is to cultivate around 1,2 million hectares of land. Many of
the ecologically rich forests will have to be cut down. This would be a
substantial blow to the ‘lungs of Asia’, the second largest forest on earth after the Amazon forest.
“God gave us a paradise, we say in Papua”, says Septer Manufandu, an
activist who is present in Amersfoort. The question however, is what
will remain of
this paradise.
Sago
While the Indonesian government considers the MIFEE program as a
development program, the Papuan populations of West Papua don’t share in
the abundance of natural resources in the province, claims Soei Liong
Liem of UK-based human rights organization Tapol. During Solidarity Day
in Amersfoort he argues that
the economic development of the local population is not a priority for the Indonesian government.
The slogan ‘food security for Indonesia’ means little to the Papuans.
“The people of Papua don’t eat rice. They are used to eating sago and
are happy
about that,’ according to Manufandu. Since sago is extracted from palm
trees, cutting down forests threatens to jeopardize the food supply of
local
populations.
The number of testimonies about unfair practices is growing. Companies
are required to consult the local population, but a widely cited report
by the
independent organization Awas MIFEE describes the track record as ‘a
shocking catalogue of deceit, broken promises and coercion.’
Compensation that was
promised has not been paid out and it is difficult for Papuans to get a
job, or they have to settle for very low wages. Rivers and lakes have
been polluted
and forests have been cut down. In some villages, the local residents
have been forced to move. In other villages their freedom of movement
has been
limited. The protests and complaints of a growing number of villages are usually ignored.
Act of Free Choice?
All of these developments have made West Papua part of the global
discourse about food security. The current plight of the Papuans,
however, is only the
last chapter in an ongoing process of repression and marginalization
that began with the transfer of authority over Papua from the
Netherlands to
Indonesia in 1963. Indonesia was to form the interim administration
until 1969 at which point the Papuans could vote for independence or
Indonesian
citizenship in the Act of Free Choice. The referendum was everything but
‘free’ and was characterized by intimidation and fraud. It came as no
surprise
that the outcome was in favor of joining Indonesia.
Since the Act of Free Choice, Papuans have been marginalized in their
own homeland. One of the causes of this marginalization is the mass
immigration
from other parts of Indonesia to West Papua, which is intended to
promote economic development in the province. Under the MIFEE program, 2
to 4 million
workers will be brought in from the outside to provide labour for the
new companies, according to Manufandu. “There are about 1,5 million
Papuans in
West Papua. This means we will become a minority in our own homeland.”
According to Soei Liong Liem the Indonesian government is only prepared
to talk about autonomy once the economic objectives have been attained.
However,
Papuans might only comprise about 40 percent of the population of West Papua at that point.
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans Manufandu believes the international community has the obligation to help
solve the problems and he thinks The Netherlands can play an important
role in this process. The Dutch government should listen to the Papuans
and urge the
Indonesian government to open up West Papua for foreign observers.
The Dutch government however, appears to be hesitant to accept such a
role. Minister of Foreign Affairs Frans Timmermans carefully remarked
that he will
discuss the matter “with respect for the Indonesians.” Meanwhile, he
denies structural repression or human rights violations by the
Indonesian
authorities.
Pro Papua is an advocacy group from The Netherlands that stands up for
the interests of Papuans in Indonesia. Koen de Jager, board member of
Prop
Papua, has his doubts the commitment of Frans Timmermans to the Papuans,
despite his promises to make human rights a priority of Dutch foreign
policy.
“As member of parliament he has never shown any enthusiasm for the
Papuan cause. During parliamentary consultations in December 2011 he
indicated that
he did not understand why things got out of hand after the 3rd Papuan
People’s Congress since “it has been so quiet in the past five years.””
Nevertheless, political attention for the issue has increased since
2000. In particular, the Christian SGP and Christian Union, the
socialist SP, and the
nationalist PVV regularly ask questions in the Dutch Parliament about the issue.
Pressure
What does Pro Papua expect from the Minister of FA Timmermans? De Jager:
“Timmermans will have to point out that dialogue and access to
journalists are
an inseparable part of any functioning democracy. These things will have
to be brought up bilaterally as well as multilaterally at the EU-level
in order to
maintain pressure.”
However, Soei Liong Liem expresses skepticism about the effectiveness of
Dutch pressure. Indonesia is wary of criticism from their old colonial
occupier.
Besides, the growing economic power of Indonesia feeds the self
confidence of the government. “The world has changed. Indonesia belongs
to the fastest
growing economies in the world. Indonesians have build up an enormous
amount of confidence and have become arrogant. Do you really think they
will listen
to Prime Minister Mark Rutte?”
De Jager thinks the Indonesian government will not be entirely
indifferent to Dutch pressure. “Obviously Indonesia will not be happy
with negative press on
the international stage, so bringing up these issues can certainly be useful.”
Attention
Whereas Pro Papua focuses on the political side of the fate of Papua,
Dutch NGO HAPIN specializes in development cooperation. One of the ways
in which
HAPIN tries to address the issue of land grabbing, is to record the
various adat (traditional) laws that regulate local land use. In the
absence of
official documents of ownership, Papuans need something to demonstrate
that they have been using their lands throughout their history,
according to Sophie
Schreurs, director of HAPIN. Furthermore, in cooperation with human
rights activists, HAPIN has plans to spread awareness amongst the
Papuans about the
consequences of land grabbing and about their rights related to this matter.
Besides HAPIN, the only Dutch organizations that are active in Papua are
the WNF and Kerk in Actie (Church in Action). Many organizations have
withdrawn
from Papua, because their activities were thwarted by the Indonesian authorities.
This is typical for an issue that, apart from the Papuan diaspora and
from a small group of committed people, generates little international
attention.
Even within the context of debates about hot topics like land grabbing
and climate change the developments within Papua suffer from a
pronounced lack of
interest. The fate of the ‘lungs of Asia’ deserves a more prominent place in these debates, says Sophie Schreurs.
Fortunately, the visit of Zefnat Kuhubun and Septer Manufandu to the
Netherlands didn’t go unnoticed. They paid a visit to the Dutch
Parliament,
where they were received by the PVV, Christian Union, SGP (Christian) , PvdA Labour) and VVD (Liberals).
Following the visit of the Papuan delegation, these political parties
and the SP (Socialists) have submitted questions to the Minister of FA
Timmermans in which they ask if he
is aware of the problem of land grabbing in Papua and if he is prepared
to press for improvement of the socio-economic position of the Papuans
and for
laying down their property rights. Timmermans will visit Indonesia from
19 to 21 February. “This visit will show if Papua is close to his
heart,” according
to De Jager.