Dozens of young Papuans took to the streets to protest further expansion of the state-backed food and energy projects that they say threaten the ancestral land and livelihood of thousands of indigenous people.
Police stopped a protest march on June 21, citing a lack of a permit and a ban on Sunday demonstrations, when members of Papuan Generation Z, or Gen Z Papua, began their 'Red Cross March' at the Red Bridge in the provincial capital, Jayapura.
Tensions briefly flared when officers attempted to confiscate protesters' banners that had slogans against the government's food project, the military presence in the area, and an alleged genocide against Papuans.
The current protest is against Indonesia's Strategic National Projects (PSN), a government-backed initiative encompassing food estates, sugarcane plantations, and rice field expansion in South Papua.
President Prabowo Subianto has declared his ambition to open 2.5 million new hectares of land in Papua to support national food and energy security, with Merauke at the center of those plans.
The current PSN covers up to 2.73 million hectares in Merauke alone.
"This is a symbol of rejection [of PSN] and of our deep concern for the condition of Papua," Aldy Hukubun, a Gen Z Papua representative, said.
The protest march was in response to Indonesia's Ministry of Agriculture allocating more than 5.5 trillion rupiah (US$335 million) to expand new rice-field development and crop programs across Papua.
Agriculture Minister Andi Amran Sulaiman announced on June 18 that land under development has now reached 870,000 hectares, including 80,000 hectares of new rice paddy fields added over the past two years.
Protester Brush Wadi said the expansion means indigenous communities are losing more of their customary lands and forests, their food source, and spiritual space.
Researchers from Indonesia's National Research and Innovation Agency have described the food estate model as a "paradox of recognition" – the state claims to protect indigenous rights while, in practice, overriding them.
"The land of Papua is not doing well," Hukubun said. "Development must take into account human beings and the environment, not just production numbers."
Father John Bunay, coordinator of Papua Indigenous Priests, said that for the Papuan people, land is not merely an economic commodity or commercial asset, but a primary source of life, a living pharmacy, and a sacred cultural space.
"It is God who gave this land to the tribes; it cannot simply be taken away," he said.