Hendrik Yaputra, Jakarta – Coordinating Minister for Legal, Political, and Security Affairs Yusril Ihza Mahendra said Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka is likely to be given an office in Papua.
According to Yusril, President Prabowo Subianto has assigned the vice president a special mandate to handle issues in the region.
"There is even a possibility of the vice president having an office to work from Papua to handle this issue," Yusril said, as quoted in the 2024 Annual Report of the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM), broadcast on YouTube on Wednesday, July 2, 2025.
He added that the plan has already been discussed. Yusril said resolving the Papua issue is the first special assignment Prabowo has given to Gibran.
"Later, the assignment could be in the form of a presidential regulation or a presidential decision," he added.
Gibran's responsibilities will include accelerating development in Papua and addressing human rights concerns. Yusril noted that Gibran will monitor how authorities are managing these issues. "And how the authorities handle issues in Papua," he said.
He emphasized that this assignment reflects the government's commitment to Papua.
"The government's concern in handling Papua has been under discussion for the past few days to give a special assignment from the President to the Vice President for accelerating the development in Papua," he said.
Tempo attempted to contact Acting Secretary of the Vice President Prasetyo Hadi and Gibran's Special Staff Tina Talisa for comment, but neither has responded.
In the first half of 2025, the Komnas HAM Papua Representative recorded 22 potential human rights violations in the region. The data was compiled through media monitoring and the Human Rights Complaint System (SPH) between January 1 and June 12, 2025.
The 22 cases include nine agrarian disputes, four environmental cases, three labor-related issues, two hunger-related incidents, two health cases, one education case, and one case involving neglect of vulnerable groups.
"Some of the above cases have the potential to violate the rights to welfare, the right to live, the rights of children, and the right to self-development," said Frits B. Ramandey, Head of the Komnas HAM Papua Representative, in a written statement on Sunday, June 15, 2025.
Among the highlighted cases are nickel mining operations in Raja Ampat Regency, Southwest Papua Province, and public complaints over the impacts of the National Strategic Project (PSN) in Merauke Regency.
– Nabilla Azzahra contributed to the writing of this article.
Source: https://en.tempo.co/read/2025837/prabowo-assigns-vp-gibran-to-oversee-papua-issue