Indonesian police used force to disperse a peaceful protest in Merauke City, South Papua, on January 25, 2026, detaining 11 demonstrators and allegedly beating several, according to a report released today by Human Rights Watch.
The protesters, members of the Voice of Catholic People of Papua (Suara Kaum Awam Katolik Regio Papua), had gathered at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Cathedral to urge church officials to protect Indigenous Papuans from the impacts of the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE) project and to voice opposition to the local bishop’s support for the government initiative. Police forcibly broke up the gathering, arresting the 11 individuals.
Stenly Dambujai, 30, one of those detained, alleges officers “choked and beat” him, and that two other protesters, Maria Amote, 24, and Angel Gebze, 22, were struck on the head with batons. Following their initial detention at the Merauke Traffic Police Station, where further beatings allegedly occurred, the protesters were transferred to the Merauke police precinct for questioning before being released without charge after midnight.
Arnold Anda, legal counsel from the Merauke Legal Aid Institute, stated that police refused to provide a legal justification for the detentions. Dambujai likewise reported that a smartphone belonging to one of the protesters was seized and had its photos and videos deleted before being returned. “I experience unsafe because it feels like I am constantly being monitored by the authorities,” he said.
The MIFEE project, initiated in 2010 by then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and later revived and expanded by President Joko Widodo in 2023, aims to convert nearly three million hectares of forest and swampland into agricultural land for crops like rice and sugarcane, with the goal of achieving national food self-sufficiency. The project was granted National Strategic Project status under Widodo, leading to increased deforestation in the Merauke region. President Prabowo Subianto, who assumed office in October 2024, has further accelerated the expansion of the food estate, stating his ambition to transform Indonesia into the “granary of the world.”
Human Rights Watch reports that the project threatens the customary land rights of over 40,000 Indigenous people from the Malind, Maklew, Yei, and Khimaima communities, who rely on the forest and swampland for their livelihoods and cultural practices. These communities allege displacement, forced land acquisition, logging of traditional forests, threats to biodiversity, and the use of military force to suppress dissent.
The Indonesian government maintains that no applications have been made for the designation of customary forests within the Merauke project area and that the project adheres to national laws and regulations, including those pertaining to Indigenous rights, environmental protection, and human rights. However, the civic group Solidarity for Merauke asserts that the project has worsened human rights violations and displacement.
President Subianto has deployed the Indonesian military to support agricultural programs in the Merauke regency, including planting and harvesting, but also to deter protests. Norton Kamuyen, a Marind resident of Nakias village, reported being forced to flee his home in January due to a land dispute, stating, “We once lived safely and without fear… But since we disagree with the National Strategic Project, we are considered to be opposing the government. The military makes us afraid, so we have to leave our villages.”
The incident in Merauke occurred amidst a broader context of heightened security presence in the Papua region. According to a quarterly report from Human Rights Monitor, released in late 2025, military deployments and operations have increased in West Papua’s highland regions since August 2025, leading to internal displacement and escalating conflict with the West Papua National Liberation Army (TPNPB). The report details ongoing human rights abuses, including killings, torture, and arbitrary detentions.
On February 5, the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, representing 105 Protestant denominations, issued a joint statement in Merauke calling on the Indonesian government to “end land grabbing of Indigenous Papuans” and to engage in “honest, equal, and dignified dialogue” with Papuan communities regarding the food estate project.
In March 2025, nine United Nations special rapporteurs expressed concerns in a letter regarding the potential loss of livelihoods and traditional rights for Indigenous peoples in 40 villages within and around the MIFEE project area, citing systematic human rights and environmental violations, including denial of land rights, deforestation, and intimidation by the military.
Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, stated, “The Indonesian government has a responsibility to improve food production in the country. But it should be clear that the Merauke food project cannot be pursued by trampling on the rights to liberty, land, and livelihoods of the Indigenous Papuan population.”
