Indonesia, West Papua – A new Project Multatuli investigation, based on cross-verified troop mobilization data and internal TNI documents, finds that Indonesia currently deploys 74,297 soldiers in West Papua, including 17,780 non-organic troops rotated in from bases across Indonesia at an estimated annual cost of IDR 2.34 trillion (about Euro 113 million), spread across 31 of West Papua's regencies in units such as the border security task forces (Pamtas), the mobile combat taskforce Satgas Mobil, elite Satgas Rajawali, and joint TNI-Polri forces guarding PT Freeport Indonesia's mining operations.
Combined with police personnel, total security forces in the region reach 103,196. This figure results in a ratio of one officer for every 57 civilians, roughly six times higher than the national average. Compared to the estimated number of armed resistance fighters in West Papua, the government has deployed 72 security personnel for every estimated pro-independence militia member.
The report highlights Intan Jaya as one of the most militarized and violence-affected regencies, hosting 1,800 non-organic troops against roughly 300 militia members, it also documents disputed casualty figures from an October 2025 raid in Soanggama village. Local human rights defenders found elevn bodies after the operation, saying that only five of the executed victims were affiliated with the TPNPB. This fiunding strongly contradicts the military's claim that all 15 persons killed TPNPB combatants.
Nationally, the report links the militarization to over 122,000 indigenous Papuans, who have been internally displaced by armed conflict over the past eight years, with roughly 60,000 people from Nduga alone. The report situates the current militarisation in West Papua within a longer historical pattern, beginning with the contested 1969 "Act of Free Choice" through repeated cycles of security-driven responses to Papuan political demands. Multatuli Project argues that the scale, structure, and territorial functions of the military presence, including its role in guarding extractive and infrastructure projects and performing civil governance tasks, constitute a pattern of military occupation rather than sincere law enforcement measures.
– Read new Multatuli Report here: https://projectmultatuli.org/militerisasi-papua-tentara-non-organik-dalam-operasi-militer/