Jayapura – An Alliance of Student Executive Councils (BEM) throughout Jayapura city together with students from various different universities held a peaceful action at the Abepura traffic circle on Monday November 4 to oppose the revival of the transmigration program in Papua.

The students oppose the transmigration plan being proposed by the Indonesian government, specifically by the Ministry of Transmigration, because it is believed that it will threaten the existence of the indigenous Papuan population.

The participants at the action expressed their concerns and anxiety about the government's plan to revive the transmigration program in the land of Papua.

According to the students, the program, which it is claimed will improve the welfare of the population, will instead threaten the lives of Papuan indigenous peoples, especially in terms of control over land, cultural identity and the right to customary land.

During the action the students brought banners and pamphlets that read "Reject Transmigration in Papua" and "Papua is not an Empty Land".

One of the speakers, Maksi You, stated that the transmigration program will not bring prosperity and the will only narrow the living space for indigenous Papuans.

"The government should prioritise improving Papuan human resources through education, health and the economic improvement of local communities", he said.

He said that the Papuan indigenous people already have great potential to develop the land of their birth while the transmigration program will only aggravate social conflicts in Papua.

"The presence of transmigration results in indigenous peoples being marginalised in their own land, which causes the loss of forests and customary land, and threatens their survival and culture", he said

In a speech, Teacher Training and Education Faculty (FKIP) student Eli Suhun asked Papuans not to stay silent and just allow this to happen, because Papua is not an empty land, there are Papuans living on this land.

"Stop stealing the rights of indigenous Papuans in this land, therefore let us reject transmigration to the land of Papua, we eat from our own land, we stand on our own land. We don't need other people to come here to take our land", she said

She said that the transmigration program in its essence is not to equalise development and welfare for the Papuan people. Rather, transmigration increases suffering and creates new problems, as well as marginalising indigenous Papuans or OAP.

"Society must realise that we are now a minority in our own customary land. This is because of the transmigration that begun during the colonial era of [former] President Suharto. And the program shrank after Suharto was forced to resign, but [President] Prabowo [Subianto] wants to revive it again on a huge scale. Come on comrades, one word, resist", she said in a speech.

[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Aksi Damai Mahasiswa Di Abepura: Tolak Transmigrasi".]

Source: https://jubi.id/polhukam/2024/aksi-damai-mahasiswa-di-abepura-tolak-transmigrasi/