Lawmakers in Indonesia report progress on drafting Indigenous rights legislation

In the heart of Southeast Asia, Indonesia is poised to take a significant step towards recognising and protecting the rights of its Indigenous communities. The Indigenous Rights Bill, currently on the list of top priority bills for 2025 called Prolegnas, promises to bring about a transformative change in the lives of these communities.

Joeni Arianto Kurniawan, director of the Center for Legal Pluralism Studies at Airlangga University, explains that the bill aims to provide greater social, economic, and political participation by Indigenous people on the national level. This could be a game-changer for the Indigenous communities, many of whom have been marginalised and overlooked in government and private projects due to the lack of recognition of customary land.

The bill, if passed, would grant legal rights and recognition of land and natural resources to Indigenous communities. This would replace a patchwork of laws that have failed to secure land rights for these communities, providing much-needed legal certainty and creating equitable investment for all parties.

The ratification of the Indigenous Rights Bill would address long-standing issues of disputed boundaries between Indigenous communities and the state or corporations. Over the last 10 years, Indigenous communities across Indonesia have been involved in 687 cases of land conflicts with the state and the private sector. These disputes covered more than 27 million acres of customary land and saw almost 1,000 Indigenous people arrested without charges or jailed for "obstructing national interests."

One such community is the Ngata Toro Indigenous community in Central Sulawesi. They have been fighting for the ratification of the bill for more than a decade. The community practices nature conservation for generations but is threatened by development and illegal activities such as poaching, logging, and mining. If the bill is passed, the Ngata Toro community hopes to have a greater role in conserving nature and their way of life.

However, the bill has faced opposition from some political parties in the past, with at least two parties rejecting it on the grounds that it would hamper investment and obstruct national interests. The most recent party to reject the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act in parliament was the Partido Demokratiko Pilipino–Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) in the Philippines.

Despite these challenges, the Coalition is optimistic that the bill would be passed this year. Recent discussions with members of the legislature indicate no substantial objections, leading to a promising outlook for the bill's future. Rukmini Paata Toheke, an activist from the Ngata Toro Indigenous community, remains hopeful, "This bill is not just about recognition and protection of our land rights. It's about recognising our culture, our way of life, and our role in preserving our environment."

As of 2024, approximately 62.4 million acres of customary land claimed by Indigenous communities remain without formal recognition by the government. The passage of the Indigenous Rights Bill could mark a turning point in the struggle for recognition and rights for Indonesia's Indigenous communities.

Lawmakers in Indonesia report progress on drafting Indigenous rights legislation