Social Conflict
Indigenous Dayak ‘furious’ as RSPO dismisses land rights violation complaint
JAKARTA — An Indigenous community in Indonesian Borneo that has waged a decades-long legal battle against a palm oil giant has slammed a decision to absolve the company of allegations of land rights violations. The Dayak Hibun community in Sanggau district, West Kalimantan province, had brought a complaint in 2012 to the Roundtable on Sustainable […]
Indonesian police slammed after protester demanding rightful land is shot dead
BALIKPAPAN, East Kalimantan — Activists have slammed the Indonesian police for rights violations after officers reportedly shot dead a villager and injured at least two others during a protest against an oil palm plantation company in Borneo. Gijik, 35, was shot in the chest during the Oct. 7 protest held by residents of the mostly […]
Indonesia’s Mandalika project a litany of violations for Indigenous Sasak
JAKARTA — Activists have called on the developers of a major tourism project on the Indonesian island of Lombok to immediately remedy the rights violations alleged by local Indigenous communities who have had to be moved from the land. The resettlement phase of the $3 billion project in the coastal Mandalika region was supposed to […]
‘Land mafia’ makes its mark in a Sumatran village’s fight against oil palm firm
JAKARTA — In 2020, residents of Suka Mukti village in southern Sumatra paid 10 million rupiah each, about $700, to a government agency to obtain titles to their land — a process that is officially supposed to be free. This year, the same agency declared the certificates illegal because, it says, the land falls inside […]
Lack of resolution mechanisms allow palm oil conflicts to fester in Indonesia
JAKARTA — Indonesia has no effective mechanism for resolving its epidemic of land conflicts between rural communities and palm oil companies, according to a new study. Indonesia is the world’s top producer of palm oil, but the industry’s rapid expansion has fueled deforestation and allegations of land grabbing throughout the archipelago nation. The study, produced […]