Indonesian Vice President Ma’ruf Amin has instructed local governments to involve indigenous peoples in various development processes in Papua. This was conveyed by the Vice President in response to the social media developments related to support for the struggle of indigenous Papuan people, namely the Awyu and Moi tribes, to defend their ancestral forests. Some time ago, people posted many of pictures with the hashtag “All Eyes on Papua”.
This was done by netizens to support the government and the Supreme Court (MA) to issue regulations that can protect the ancestral forests of the two Papuan indigenous tribes. This is because the local government has issued environmental permits to palm oil companies to operate in the ancestral forests of the Awyu tribe in Boven Digoel, South Papua and the Moi tribe in Sorong, Southwest Papua.
“In the future, of course, in development, there must be communication between the local government and traditional heads and the community. So that there is no kind of conflict or misunderstanding like what has happened so far,” said the Vice President after inspecting the Malawei Fishermen Settlement, Sorong City, Southwest Papua, Thursday (6/6).
The Vice President emphasized that Papua’s development plan in the future must involve indigenous peoples, especially tribal chiefs. This is considered important to avoid policies that negatively impact the livelihoods of indigenous peoples in Papua. “To regional leaders, to the acting governors, this is our hope,” he said.
Regarding the legal case brought by the Awyu and Moi tribes which has now reached the cassation stage at the Supreme Court, the Vice President hopes that the process can proceed in accordance with the provisions in court. However, the Vice President reminded that the events that befell the indigenous Papuan people should not happen again. “But in the future, we hope that such things will not happen. Because maybe there was a lack of communication in the past, we must communicate well in the future,” said the Vice President.
West Papua Now 