Tag Archives: military

Jokowi relaunches MIFEE, wants 1.2 million hectares of new ricefields within 3 years!

By admin | Published: May 15, 2015

Indonesian President Joko Widodo made his second presidential visit to Papua on 9th and 10th May. In Jayapura he made two small but welcome gestures, pardoning five long-term political prisoners and announcing that there would be no more restrictions on foreign journalists reporting from Papua. The next day he flew to Merauke to get down […]

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Blasius Sumaghai beaten by Indonesian Navy Officers in Bade, Mappi

By admin | Published: February 17, 2014

Mappi, Majalah Selangah – Blasius Sumaghai (23 years old), a resident of Bade village, Edera District, Mappi, Papua has been beaten by members of the Indonesian Navy. The reasons for the beating were not clear. According to information compiled by majalahselangkah.com, Blasius Sumaghai, the son of the late Abraham Sumaghai who was an Awyu community […]

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Three years of MIFEE (part 1): A Growing Movement Against Plantations in West Papua

By admin | Published: October 23, 2013

“We, the indigenous people of Yowied Village reject corporations coming on to our land in Tubang District for the following reasons: there is not so much land around Yowied Village. Our lives are dependent on what our environment can provide. Where will the future generations go?” The sign is tied with coconut leaves, a signal […]

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Three Years of MIFEE (part 2): First Villages Feel the Impact as the Plantation Menace Spreads.

By admin | Published: October 23, 2013

The forest villages of Merauke are as remote as it is possible to imagine in the twenty-first century. Nowhere in Indonesia is further from Jakarta – 3700 kilometres as the crow flies. 662 km of forest and a high mountain range separate Merauke from the Papuan capital, Jayapura, which is also the focus of most […]

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People of Woboyu Traumatised by Gunshots / Continuing Opposition to Plantations.

By admin | Published: September 2, 2013

On 29th September, Romanus Mbaraka, the Bupati or Regency Leader of Merauke, travelled to Kampung Wambi in Okaba District, to try to convince local people that plantation development did not necessarily have to be a bad thing. Hundreds of people from surrounding villages came to hear him speak. A local journalist with tabloidjubi.com also travelled […]

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Twenty-seven organisations report MIFEE to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

By admin | Published: July 26, 2013

A coalition of organisations has requested the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Commission to take action under its Early Warning and Urgent Action procedures to address the dire situation being faced by indigenous people all over Indonesia. For the second time, the specific focus of their concern is the Merauke Integrated Food and […]

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The Controversy around Presidential Regulation 40 of 2013: The Indonesian Army Opens the way for Business in West Papua

By admin | Published: June 23, 2013

15/06/2013 Presidential Regulation (Perpres) 40 of 2013, a new order issued by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to “Build Roads to Faciltate the Expansion of Development in Papua and West Papua Provinces”, has been greeted with opposition and concern by the Papuan people. Perpres 40 requests the Indonesian military’s involvement in the technical implementation, construction and […]

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MIFEE-affected communities want their land back

By admin | Published: January 31, 2013

A roundup of recent material about MIFEE, January 2013, from Down To Earth Indigenous communities living along the Bian and Maro Rivers in Merauke, southern Papua, have demanded the return of their customary lands taken for the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) mega-project. A set of demands issued after four days of community […]

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Destroying Local Livelihoods With Mifee

By admin | Published: January 20, 2013

At the launch of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate project in 2010, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono announced that the agribusinesses involved would “feed Indonesia, then feed the world.” But the Malind Anim people of Merauke, Papua, say they are worried that the impacts of the project known as Mifee will prevent them from […]

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MIFEE: Recent News Reports

By admin | Published: January 7, 2013

Representatives of the Lembaga Masyarakat Adat (Customary People’s Assocation), together with other people affected by the MIFEE mega-agriculture project, made a visit to Papuan provincial capital Jayapura just before Christmas. In meetings with Papuan media, they explained the new problems local communities in the Merauke Area are facing as different companies rush to develop oil […]

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