The Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) is reminding Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni and President Prabowo Subianto about the Forestry Ministry's plan to open 20 million hectares of land under the pretext of supporting food and energy security.
This policy will not only trigger deforestation and environmental damage, but also risks causing serious human rights violations in the form of the forced displacement of local/indigenous communities (exclusion).
Based on data from the Central Statistics Agency (BPS), in 2003 it was recorded that around 48.8 million people or 22 percent of Indonesia's population of 219.9 million people live in and around forests, most of whom are poor and depend directly on forests for their livelihoods.
Meaning that the clearing of 20 million hectares of land poses a serious threat to and will have a broad impact on tens of millions of poor and vulnerable people who depend upon forests as a source of food and livelihood.
This is bearing in mind that the pattern of policy-making regarding ambitious government projects, especially National Strategic Projects (PSN), has from the start ignored the right to information for and the participation of local/indigenous communities as a most basic developmental right.
On the other hand, the involvement of the TNI (Indonesian Military) and police in food security projects increasingly convinces us that this project will be carried out repressively considering the many cases of violence by the police and TNI in previous PSNs, as for example what is happening in the Rempang Eco City Project in the Riau Islands, the food estate projects in Merauke, Papua, and so on.
Therefore, it is certain that this policy will not comply with human rights standards, especially those regulated under Law Number 11/2005 on the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Article 11, Paragraph 1) and Law Number 12/2005 on the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 17, 23 and 27). This is a systematic and evil-intentioned policy practice.
So far, the practice of large-scale land clearing, especially in areas where there are PSNs, has become a source of agrarian conflict and an epicentre of violence against local/indigenous communities. The forced evictions, criminalisation and the violence that accompanies them have become a recurring pattern.
Based on YLBHI data over the last three years, there have been around 190 cases of criminalisation against local/indigenous communities living in and around forest areas. These cases show a systematic pattern of human rights violations, where policy-making is not transparent or participatory and communities who try to defend their rights face threats, intimidation and arbitrary arrest.
Furthermore, based on case handling data, the YLBHI and Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) regional offices note that as a result of these forced evictions, people often lose their homes and the right to a decent life, the right to food, the right to culture, the right to work and are left without the means to earn a living and often do not have effective access to legal or other solutions. Where forced evictions often target the poorest and most vulnerable sectors of society, especially women, children and indigenous peoples.
Therefore we are urging the government to:
1. Stop the plan to clear 20 million hectares of land in forest areas;
2. Restore democratic principles, social justice and sustainability in all policies, and ensure that food and energy policies are truly for the welfare of the ordinary people.
Jakarta, January 10, 2025
Respectfully,
YLBHI management
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Rencana Pembukaan Lahan 20 Juta Ha; Tanah Air Dijarah, Rakyat Disingkirkan".]
