Indonesia, West Papua – Between April and June 2026, new security force raids in the regencies Puncak, Yahukimo, Nduga, Mimika, and Intan Jaya caused new waves of internal displacement, where indigenous communities witness an increasing presence of military personnel.
HRM received reports from various areas where the military (TNI) claimed customary land for the construction of new military posts without prior consent by its customary land rights holders. As of early June 2026, more than 122,931 civilians across multiple regencies remained internally displaced due to military operations and armed conflict (see table below). The most significant event marked a widespread military operation in Kembru, Pogoma and Magebume (Puncak) reportedly displaced an estimated 14,000 people. Alarmingly, HRM did not receive updated information about IDPs in other conflict affected regencies such as Pegunungan Bintang or Nduga, where IDPs continue to live in isolated camps in the jungle without humanitarian access.
General developments point to a contested and still-deteriorating outlook. Church leaders have explicitly linked the crisis to state policy, arguing that the development-through-security approach codified in Presidential Instructions No. 9 of 2017 and No. 9 of 2020 on the acceleration of development in the Papuan provinces has legitimised militarisation and deepened the humanitarian emergency in West Papua. the DGP's demands an immediate halt to military operations in civilian areas, concrete civilian protection, unimpeded humanitarian access, an independent investigation into alleged rights violations, and access for foreign journalists.
The Papua Council of Churches (DGP) stated on 21 April 2026 that the humanitarian crisis can be traced back to late 2018, linked to escalating violence and intensifying military operations in civilian areas. These operation had reached alarming levels pointing at various incidents involving excessive police or military violence in the regencies Lanny Jaya, Intan Jaya, Puncak and Dogiyai between March and June 2026. IDPs continue facing dire conditions, including acute shortages of food, healthcare and protection, compounded by the encroachment of military activity into villages, churches, schools and markets that should be civilian safe spaces.
Papuan parliament members have repeatedly brought the humanitarian crisis in West Papua to the attention of the central government (see video below). On 7 June 2026, the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB) publicly offered to guarantee humanitarian access for neutral organisations operating under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). As of writing, Jakarta yet refuses to enter into a dialogue for a peaceful resolution of the conflict and continues to block humanitarian access to IDPs, as displacement in the conflict zones ware likely to climb so long as a security-driven approach prevails.
Boven Digoel
IDPs in Boven Digoel Regency, South Papua Province, fled in two closely spaced waves in early June 2026, driven by fear of an escalation of armed violence as TPNPB fighters reportedly arrived in Manggelum District, Boven Digoel. In the first wave, around 101 persons from Manggelum and Friwage districts arrived in stages at the Boven Digoel Police headquarters in the regency capital, Tanah Merah on 1 June 2026. In the second wave, 104 villagers left Manggelum on 4 June, travelling by river via Kouh District and then on to Tanah Merah using five longboats and speedboats, arriving on 6 June 2026. TPNPB members reportedly set fire to health and education facilities and several other buildings.
On 5 June 2026 local government representatives stated that around 60 residents remained in Biwage (Friwage) Village awaiting government collection, with others scattered around the Manggelum area still awaiting evacuation; a regency team was being prepared to bring them safely to Tanah Merah. By 9 June 2026, the TNI claimed to have driven the armed group back from three villages in Manggelum District and said the hundreds of residents who had fled were expected to be able to return home soon.
According to the Boven Digoel Police Chief. the arriving evacuees were met by Mandobo and Boven Digoel Police using trucks, patrol cars and ambulances and taken to temporary shelter in the Joglo and Pendopo halls at police headquarters, where they received health checks, food, drink and trauma counselling, alongside a full registration of identities and logistical needs (see photos below, source: Polres Boven Digoel). The Boven Digoel Regency government reinforced this response taking efforts to ensure healthcare, transport and food, coordinating through the local leaders coordination forum Forkopimda.
Puncak
A military operation against TPNPB-OPM fighters in Kembru District between 13 and 15 April 2026, resulting in the deaths of at least fourteen indigenous civilians including two unborn babies, and injuries to at least twelve others The operation triggered a massive internal displacement wave, with operations continuing in several districts roughly between 19 and 23 April 2026. First displacement reportedly began on 13 April 2026, with people fleeing to the neighbouring Puncak Jaya Regency. On 21 April 2026, indigenous communities from villages Pinapa and Gilini in the Omukia District fled toward the district's main town Odugura. Data compiled by a field investigation team between 19 and 21 April 2026, records 21 villages and 22 church congregations affected across the three origin districts Kembru (7 villages, 7 churches), Magebume (5 villages, 6 churches) and Pogoma (9 villages, 9 churches). Another local account stated that 23 of Puncak's 25 districts have been affected by armed conflict, with only Dovo and Dervos spared.
The Investigation Team's conducted village-by-village counts in the three affected districts. For Kembru District the team records 7,074 IDPs – Tenoti (866), Makuma (716), Kemburu village (1,465), Nilime (880), Aguis (992), Belaba (1,026) and Molu (1,129). This figure is identical to the Central Papua MRP special team's count and to Kembru's entire population. From Magebume District the team records a further 5,383 IDPs: Gelegi (700), Kumigomo (943), Jigunggi (1,290), Amulume (1,700) and Urumagi (750). These two districts sum to 12,457. A separate 1,546 are recorded from the Pogoma and Sinak Barat areas, an accumulation from the earlier conflict whose people have not returned. They have sought shelter in the districts Bina (506) and Sinak District (380), the regencies Nabire (300), the Mimika (350), and Jayapura (10). In total the military operations resulted in 14,003 new IDPs. All sources flag the counts as provisional and likely to rise as some remote villages have not been surveyed.
The military personnel again conducted an operation in the Omukia District, Puncak Regency, between 1 and 6 May 2026 which reportedly resulted in the deaths of four indigenous Papuans, including two women. Following the operations, entire indigenous communities in the surrounding area fled to safety.
Conditions among IDPs in Puncak have been consistently described as dire. Entire families fled suddenly and unorganised into the forest, unable to carry food, clothing, livestock or any supplies. Among the IDPs are women, children and the elderly. They face acute shortages of food and clean water, and of health care. Children have not been able to attend school since the military operation disrupted their lives. The IDPs remain traumatised, with some still moving repeatedly because the situation is not safe. The delivery of basic staples and the safeguarding of IDPs is still difficult because the IDPs remain largely unorganised. The IDPs are in urgent need of clothing, food, health services and shelter materials such as tents, nails, saws and hammers.
A return remains impossible under the current security posture. After its operation in Kembru, the Habema task force still controls the area. Meanwhile the deployment of new security forces to the Puncak Regency reportedly continued. Two helicopters reportedly conduct operations and transport personnel daily, while drones carry out intensive surveillance from the headwaters of the Sinak River down to its mouth at Bina. "Civic space" has been described as severely restricted. Indigenous villagers are barred from gathering food or firewood, hunting, moving at night or assembling in groups, with daily activity tightly monitored.
Intan Jaya
IDPs in Intan Jaya Regency, Central Papua Province, are part of a long-running displacement crisis due to armed conflict ongoing in the regency from 2019 through 2026. The most recent wave was triggered by Indonesian military operations in May 2026, centred on Agisiga District. On Sunday, 17 May 2026, an Indonesian military drone reportedly dropped grenades on the St Paul's Catholic Church in Mbamogo Village, Agisiga District, Intan Jaya Regency, shortly after worshippers had completed Sunday mass. At least four Indigenous Papuans sustained shrapnel injuries following explosions inside the church compound. A second drone attack in the neighbouring Danggoa village, Agisiga District, on 19 May 2026 reportedly wounded one further villager and set off a mass flight of civilians from villages across the district.
Following these attacks, residents of the villages of Mbamogo and Soali, Agisiga District fled their homes. On the morning of 20 May 2026, a group led by a Catholic priest evacuated some IDPs from the Mbamogo to Intan Jaya's largest town Sugapa (see video below, source: indepndent HRD). Other residents reportedly remained hiding in the forests to escape continuing military operations. The total number of IDPs remains unclear at time of reporting.
Mimika
On 7 and 8 May 2026, military forces conducted an operation in the Kali Kabur area of Tembagapura District, Mimika Regency, in the Central Papua province, resulting in injuries to at least six civilians and the killing of Nalince Wamang, 17. More thana thousand civilians fled from the area toward Kimbeli and Timika Town. Most of those displaced from Kali Kabur were walking on foot to the city of Timika along public roads and through the forest, because the military took control over the area.
Police reported that a joint task force of Brimob Battalion B, the Amole Task Force and the Tembagapura Police Station had rescued around 256 residents who had sheltered in the Kali Kabur area, evacuating them first to the Brimob post at MP 72 and then to locations deemed safe, This figure contrasts with the more than thousand IDPs described fleeing toward Kimbeli and Timika. The Mimika Police Chief stated on 12 May 2026 that residents who had been sheltered at a command post in Timika had since gone back to their homes. The authorities' information regarding
Jayawijaya
A tribal war in Wamena between two ethnic groups in the Woma District on 14 May 2026 spread to several locations across Jayawijaya by 15 May. According to Jayawijaya Police, the clashes killed 13 people and injured 19 (three seriously, 16 with minor injuries). 789 residents were reportedly internally displaced as a result of the tribal clashes. Police attributed the conflict to a long-running feud reignited by a dispute over a customary fine tied to a 2024 traffic accident that had killed a Lanny Jaya legislator;.
Members of the Yahukimo Regional People's Representative Council distributed humanitarian aid to the displaced. The aid reached several displacement sites scattered across the Megapura, Wouma, Mapilima and Wesaput areas. The security situation gradually stabilised after intervention by local government, community leaders and security forces. By late May, schools had reportedly reopened, government services were resuming, and most of the displaced said they hoped to go home as soon as conditions allowed.
Yahukimo
On 11 May 2026, the Law and Human Rights Department of the Evangelical Church in Indonesia (Gereja Injili di Indonesia, GIDI), based in Jayapura together with Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Desk of the Papuan St Augustinian Order (JPIC-OSA) and the congregation of the Catholic Diocese of Jayapura distributed relief goods to IDPs in the town of Dekai, Yahukimo. On 20 May 2026, TPNPB members killed eight gold panners in the Korowai area. Indigenous communities in the area fled their homes on 22 and 23 May 2026, after security forces conducted an operation in the area to evacuate survivors from the mining site.
The Yahukimo Regency was the top hotspot of armed violence in 2025. Armed clashes and lethal attacks have frequently re-occurred in the regency throughout 2016. In response to the situation, security forces have carried out a series of arbitrary arrests over a period of five months, many of which were accompanied by torture and ill-treatment during detention.
Tambrauw
IDPs from Banfot Village, Fef District, Tambrauw Regency, Papua Barat province, remained displaced as of early May 2026, according to a KontraS Papua press release dated 5 May 2026. Hundreds of indigenous villagers had fled to various areas considered safe after a security-force operation in Banfot Village on 18 March 2026. Residents of the villages of Bamusbama, Banfot and Bano and the Salin Hamlet were also forced to leave their homes. The operation followed a sequence of killings in the regency, including the deaths of two healthcare workers.
The IDPs are frightened and traumatised by the security forces' actions and afraid to return to their villages, with some saying they intended to abandon their villages altogether and relocate somewhere safer for good. The continued displacement is also related to the indiscriminate arrest of 15 civilians, alongside reports of demolished homes, intimidation and violence. The Tambrauw Regency legislature has remained silent about the displacement situation in the Fef District.
Table of IDPs across West Papua, Indonesia, as of 10 June 2026 (see original document)