Jayapura, Jubi – Provincial legislatures across Papua should initiate a Special Regional Regulation (Perdasus) granting Indigenous Papuans (Orang Asli Papua/OAP) veto rights over large-scale investment projects, according to academics and legal advocates who say stronger legal protections are needed to safeguard customary land rights.
Antonia Klara Bonay, a lecturer at Cenderawasih University's Faculty of Business and Economics, said such a regulation would strengthen legal protections for Indigenous Papuans by ensuring their interests are prioritized in investment policies. She noted that the Special Autonomy Law for Papua provides the legal basis for the establishment of Perdasus.
"If Perdasus is one of the implementing regulations mandated under Papua's Special Autonomy Law, then it should be developed through the proper legislative process so that future investment projects do not create adverse impacts for Indigenous Papuans," Bonay said.
Bonay argued that without adequate safeguards, large-scale projects – including oil palm plantations, mining operations, food estate developments and sugarcane plantations – have the potential to deepen poverty among Indigenous Papuans by depriving them of access to their customary lands and natural resources.
"In many cases, these projects take away the resources that have sustained Indigenous communities for generations. Forests that once provided food and livelihoods are replaced by plantations and mines, creating structural poverty among Indigenous Papuans," she said.
She said investment policies should therefore be governed by a dedicated Perdasus to ensure customary landowners receive tangible benefits from projects affecting their ancestral territories.
Bonay also urged provincial legislatures to work with relevant stakeholders to compile data and conduct academic studies before drafting a regulation governing investment in Papua.
"The regulation should provide stronger protections and ensure investment planning directly involves Indigenous Papuans and reflects their interests," she said.
Papua's six provinces continue to record some of the highest poverty rates in Indonesia. Highland Papua has the country's highest poverty rate at 30.03 percent, or approximately 337,320 people. Similar conditions persist in Papua, Central Papua, South Papua and West Papua provinces.
Southwest Papua records the lowest poverty rate among Papua's provinces at 17.95 percent, equivalent to around 103,570 people. However, the figure remains well above Indonesia's national poverty rate of 8.4 percent.
Safeguarding indigenous rights
Human rights lawyer Emanuel Gobay of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI) said a Perdasus establishing Indigenous veto rights would serve as an important legal safeguard against investment policies that undermine customary land ownership.
He argued that investment decisions should recognize Indigenous Papuans as the legitimate holders of customary land rights.
"This is the kind of regulation that should be developed because it would provide an important safeguard. In many cases, it is Indigenous communities themselves who are forced to sue companies or government agencies," Gobay told Jubi on Thursday.
He described the proposal as a critique of Papua's Indigenous People's Council (MRP), provincial legislatures, executive governments and the Regional Representative Council
(DPD), all of which, he said, have a legal obligation under the Special Autonomy Law to protect the rights of Indigenous Papuans.
Gobay added that Indonesia's legal framework already recognizes and protects Indigenous peoples, including through Article 18B(2) of the 1945 Constitution and Article 6 of Law No. 39/1999 on Human Rights. However, he argued that stronger regional legislation is needed to ensure those constitutional protections are effectively implemented in the context of large-scale investment in Papua.
Gobay also pointed to international legal protections, arguing that Indigenous peoples' rights are reinforced by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), particularly the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Under UNDRIP, FPIC affirms Indigenous peoples' right to give or withhold consent to projects, policies or activities that may affect their lands, territories and natural resources.
"Before any customary land or natural resources can be used, the process must be preceded by Free, Prior and Informed Consent. That is essentially the legal agreement between Indigenous communities and those seeking to use their land. This is what we refer to as a veto right," Gobay said.
He added that Papua's Special Autonomy Law already incorporates the FPIC principle by requiring the government to act as a mediator between investors and customary landowners before investment projects proceed.
"Whenever an investment is proposed, the government is required to bring together the investor and the Indigenous community for discussions. Anyone seeking to use customary land must first meet with the customary landowners, with the government serving as the mediator," he said.
Gobay said protections for Indigenous communities in Papua are specifically set out in Articles 43 and 44 of Law No. 2/2021 on Special Autonomy for Papua, which, he argued, provide the legal foundation for introducing a Perdasus granting Indigenous Papuans veto rights over major investment decisions.
"Such a regulation is both important and necessary. The lawsuit we are currently pursuing against the 135-kilometre road project in Merauke relies heavily on the Special Autonomy Law, but there is no implementing Perdasus. You cannot expect one law alone to regulate every practical issue arising from different sectors," he said.
Gobay urged governors, provincial legislatures (DPR), and the Papua People's Assembly (MRP) across Papua's six provinces to prioritize drafting a Perdasus that would formally recognize Indigenous Papuans' veto rights over large-scale investment policies.
Without such legal safeguards, he warned, the creation of new provinces could end up serving the interests of investors rather than improving the welfare of Indigenous communities.
"The governors, DPR and MRP all have a legal responsibility to protect Indigenous peoples. Given the number of National Strategic Projects now spread across Papua's six provinces, each province should immediately establish a special committee to draft Perdasus and other regional regulations governing investment," Gobay said.
"If they fail to do so, Papua's forests will continue to disappear, and Indigenous communities will become even poorer," he added.