MIFEE-Affected Communities Want Their Land Back Language
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Menu About Us Report: An Agribusiness Attack in West Papua Company Profiles Merauke News Around West Papua Links Story Map MIFEE-affected communities want their land back Language By ADMIN | Published: JANUARY 31, 2013 Search To search, type and hit enter A roundup of recent material about MIFEE, January 2013, from Down To Earth Three Years of MIFEE Three essays examining MIFEE in the Indigenous communities three years since it was inaugurated, how it is impacting the Marind People living along the Bian and and their efforts to oppose plantation Maro Rivers in Merauke, development. southern Papua, have demanded the return of their -->Three years of MIFEE (part 1): A Growing Movement Against Plantations customary lands taken for the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy in West Papua Estate (MIFEE) mega-project. A set of demands issued after four days of community discussions in December also called for the -->Three Years of MIFEE (part 2): First revoking of location permits covering their customary land and for Villages Feel the Impact as the the companies involved to restore the damage done and pay Plantation Menace Spreads. compensation to affected communities. -->Three Years of MIFEE (part 3): As the forest is felled where’s the rice? A key component of the government’s unwieldy MP3EI economic masterplan for Papua, MIFEE was officially launched in 2010 amid News From Merauke concerns over human rights, environmental and social impacts. The Statement from Merauke project involves the conversion of indigenous land, including forests Human Rights Day and peatlands, into plantations growing food, energy and other demonstration. crops and is expected to prompt an influx of migrant workers to The debate over clans’ land in meet the sharply increased demand for labour . Bupul village as forest become an oil palm plantation Describing the current situation along the Bian and Maro Rivers, a Gama Plantation: Building on document outlining the communities’ demands says that river water deforestation and conflict has been contaminated, killing fish, turtles and other water Korindo strikes back against animals. It can no longer be used for drinking, cooking and bathing NGO campaign. by the communities. Children bathing in the river and swamp waters PT Agriprima Cipta Persada have developed skin, digestion and respiratory problems, and now clears the Mahuze Kewamese community members must walk many miles to get clean water. Clan’s Ancestral Forest. As oil palm moves in, the Yei Meanwhile, the destruction of customary forests has meant sources people’s forest slowly disappears. of food – including animals and sago – are becoming scarcer as are forest products needed for medicines, clothes and customary Stop Military business and respect the rights of equipment. indigenous Papuans. PT Selaras Inti Semesta The communities accuse the companies of failing to provide continues logging, but isn’t information about the land policies and permits affecting their land giving work to Zanegi and failing to involve the local indigenous community organisation villagers or many of the land right-holders in the consultation process – only The Mahuzes engaging clan leaders and people whose land had already been Merauke Burns – but were the cleared for development. plantations to blame? In addition, the communities have been misled over the status of Oil palm plantation the land leased to the companies. They were told by companies and development & forest fires in southern Papua, September- local government that they would get their land back, but have October 2015 discovered that after the 35 year lease period ends, the land will Merauke District Council and instead revert to the state – a situation to which they strongly Indigenous People’s object.[1] Association take issue with military working on one- A press release issued by Sawit Watch and SKP KAMe[2] adds that million hectare rice estate the Bian and Maro River community lands have been cleared by oil palm companies by burning, which has polluted the water in the Around West Papua rivers and swamps, damaged or wiped cultural sites and caused and Maluku irreparable damage to the natural environment. These two “It’s forest that we can live organisations back the community demands for restoration, from, not oil palm” compensation and the return of community lands, but also call on They’re killing the Koroway the Indonesian government to immediately respond to the UN with mercury and precious Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which has metals. raised concerns about the MIFEE project.[3] The Salim Group and land conflicts around West Papua. Six oil palm plantations have currently begun operations on September 29th 2014, a terrible day for Papua’s indigenous Malind Anim land in Merauke, according to Sawit Watch forests and SKP KAMe: PT Dongin Prabhawa (Korindo Group), PT Bio Inti Maranatha Declaration Agrindo (Korindo Group[4]), PT Central Cipta Murdaya (CCM), PT (concerning permits for Agriprima Cipta Persada, PT Hardaya Sawit Papua and PT Berkat extractive industries and Citra Abadi (Korindo Group). indigenous Papuans’ rights) Chronology of violence by There has been controversy about the official status of the land, Brimob officers working in PT Permata Putera Mandiri’s and specifically why this region of Papua was excluded from concession towards Indonesia’s two-year moratorium on clearing primary forests and indigenous customary peatland, announced in May 2011.[5] Asked by REDD-Monitor’s landowners in South Sorong Chris Lang why this was the case, senior government official Heru ANJ’s response to criticism of Prasetyo explained that land that had previously been classified as its recent forest clearance. peatland (which would be included in the moratorium) was not as Head of the Auyu people: extensive as had been thought.[6] Heru Prasetyo is Deputy I UKP4, We’re ready to die for out [7] and a member of the government’s REDD+ Task Force. land and ancestral forest If the ANJ group wants a sustainable image, why is it The moratorium map has been revised three times so far – all clearing forest and creating versions can be viewed on the Forestry Department’s website at conflict?? http://webgis.dephut.go.id/. From the maps covering the MIFEE Rhinoceros beetles and area, the reduction in the area considered to be peatland is very unwanted smallholder clear when the first and revised maps are compared. Map 3408 in schemes: the problems facing the first moratorium map, for example, has a far larger area shown villagers in Korindo’s North Maluku plantation. as peatland than in the most recent (3rd revision) map. (These two maps, with peatland areas coloured orange, are copied below). Poumako incident: lethal military violence against indigenous fisherfolk Government statements defending their livelihood have also indicated that Were cement company MIFEE is being downscaled interests behind change of – from over a million forest land classification? hectares in extent (as set Moi indigenous people block out, for example, in the the road in opposition to oil palm MP3EI economic masterplan for The commercialisation of ancestral forest Indonesia[8]) to around one Freeport: Student solidarity fifth of that size. According for change. to Heru Prasetyo, who gave the figure of 220,000 Archives hectares in September last March 2018 year, this is due to a review February 2018 of what is feasible, and January 2018 takes into account areas December 2017 that need to be protected November 2017 (including indigenous October 2017 peoples’ sacred lands).[9] September 2017 August 2017 April 2017 However it is evident that serious social, environmental and human March 2017 rights impacts are continuing whatever the project’s official extent. February 2017 Recent media reports of a visit to Papua’s capital Jayapura by January 2017 December 2016 representatives of the local indigenous peoples’ association and November 2016 other people affected by MIFEE, compiled and translated by the July 2016 campaign group awasMIFEE, provides evidence from the ground. June 2016 They report broken promises about the facilities or compensation May 2016 the companies said they would provide, as well as the concerns over April 2016 the future ownership of the land, pollution and the related health March 2016 and livelihood impacts. Coercive behaviour by the military is February 2016 another part of the picture (see below), along with wages that are January 2016 too low to provide for daily needs paid to villagers who have handed December 2015 over their lands. November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 Intimidation July 2015 June 2015 To secure logging areas in Merauke Regency, several companies are May 2015 using the services of Indonesian state security forces. April 2015 March 2015 “And that’s been kept secret, and we want to let people know that. February 2015 They are involved from the moment when plans are first presented December 2014 to the people right up until the development starts in the field”, said November 2014 Paustinus Ndiken, the Secretary of Malind Bian Customary People’s October 2014 September 2014 Association in Jayapura. August 2014 July 2014 According to him, the involvement of security forces personnel has June 2014 meant that it has been easier for the companies to persuade people May 2014 to surrender their land. “There have been times when they have also April 2014 been there asking the people to give their land over to the March 2014 companies, a prominent community member was once even beaten February 2014 up while the company was presenting its plans. The situation was January 2014 tense at that moment, I don’t know why, and then a customary December 2013 leader was suddenly struck by a member of the security forces”, he October 2013 September 2013 stated. August 2013 July 2013 He added that the people didn’t agree with police or military June 2013 intervention in the process of discussions to transfer land rights.