Indigenous Peoples Are Increasingly Threatened, Indigenous Peoples Bill Urgently Needs to be Passed

BANJARMASIN, KOMPAS – Indigenous communities in several regions continue to face various issues that threaten their livelihoods. In the Meratus Mountains area of South Kalimantan, indigenous people are threatened by national park programs. The Draft Law on Indigenous Law Communities is also urgently calling to be enacted into law.

The urgency of the presence of the Indigenous Peoples Law in Indonesia emerged during a public discussion held by the Coalition to Monitor the Indigenous Peoples Bill online, Wednesday (16/4/2025). The discussion raised the theme "Traditional Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Its Urgency in Efforts to Encourage the Ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill."

Erwin Dwi Kristianto, a researcher from the HuMa Indonesia Association, stated that the results of the institution's research in 2024 mapped at least 12 indigenous community rights across various laws. These include the rights to land, territory, and natural resources, the right to implement customary law and/or justice, communal land rights, and the collective rights of indigenous women.

"All of these rights are still conditional, layered, and sectoral. Therefore, it is hoped that with the existence of the Indigenous Peoples Law, the conditional, layered, and sectoral recognition can be eliminated through a more affordable and simpler administrative process for indigenous communities," he said.

When discussing the Indigenous Peoples Bill, Erwin stated, it is equally important to address the rights of indigenous communities. The academic manuscript proposed by the Coalition to Monitor the Indigenous Peoples Bill clearly outlines the rights of these communities.

"These rights are part of human rights. Therefore, it is the obligation of the state to fulfill, respect, and protect these rights," he said.

Rina Mardiana from the Agrarian Study Center of the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) stated that indigenous peoples, as mentioned in the draft Bill on Indigenous Peoples, are a group of individuals who still feel bound by their customary legal order as members of a specific legal community, which recognizes and applies the provisions of that community in their daily lives, and possess a certain territory as their living environment.

"Indigenous communities are seen as autonomous groups, namely those that are born and formed from within themselves, not formed by external forces, such as the state or kingdom, and have their own identity bonds, social structures, cultural values, and authority," he said.

According to Rina, the Indigenous Peoples Bill emphasizes that indigenous communities are not ex-sovereign entities (not sultanates or kingdoms). They possess ancestral rights that existed before the establishment of the Indonesian state, and these rights are not granted by the state.

Their rights are recognized in the constitution, particularly in Article 18B paragraph (2) of the 1945 Constitution, which states the recognition of the rights of indigenous legal communities as long as they are alive and in accordance with the times. Additionally, it is also acknowledged in Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution, which states the respect for cultural identity and the rights of traditional communities.

"The main urgency of the Indigenous Peoples Bill is to recognize their existence in full as legal, cultural, and political entities, as well as to ensure that all of their sustainable living practices continue to exist and are acknowledged within the state system. Without this, not only will they be lost, but also agrarian-environmental justice and the sovereignty of the Indonesian nation," he said.

Harnilis, a representative of the indigenous community of the Meratus Mountains in South Kalimantan, stated that the indigenous people of the Meratus Mountains have only known how to work from time to time. Their main occupation is farming. Farming activities have been carried out generationally since the time of their ancestors.

"We never knew the rules and laws out there. It turns out, there are regulations like this and that. Suddenly, the land we have been cultivating is recognized as state-owned," he said.

According to Harnilis, the indigenous people of the Meratus Mountains were very surprised when there was suddenly a discourse from the government to establish the Meratus Mountains National Park. The land that has been cultivated by the indigenous community will also change its status to that of a national park.

"We clearly do not accept this because we live there, eat there, work there, and seek clothing and food there. If it becomes a national park, many of our cultures will be lost," he stated.

Triawan Umbu Uli Mehakati from the Coordination Foundation for the Study and Management of Natural Resources (Koppesda) in East Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara, stated that the practices of marginalization and discrimination against indigenous communities continue to occur to this day.

In the indigenous communities of East Sumba, for example, land disputes with corporations and the government still frequently occur. There are also instances of the eviction of communal land belonging to indigenous peoples, including rice fields, grazing lands, and sacred sites used for Marapu worship.

"After losing agricultural land and grazing fields, many members of indigenous communities are forced to work as daily laborers for companies. This creates economic dependency and exacerbates structural poverty among indigenous communities," he said.

We never knew the rules and laws out there. It turns out, there are regulations like this and that. Suddenly, the land that we have been cultivating is recognized as state property.