Indonesia’s indigenous community, rights groups slam eviction threat over Nusantara project: ‘violation of rights’

According to the East Kalimantan branch of the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), hundreds of households in the Sepaku district of East Kalimantan, which falls within Nusantara’s core government area, received letters from the new capital’s authority earlier this month asking them to tear down their houses.

The buildings in the four Sepaku villages “are considered not in accordance with the Regional Spatial Planning of the Indonesian Capital City”, the letter said.

The eviction threat made national headlines and was swiftly met with outcry from rights groups and opponents of the US$30 billion project, which was initiated by Widodo in 2019.

“The letter from [Nusantara Capital City Authority] not only insults the rights of the Sepaku community, including the rights of the Balik tribe who live there, but also puts them at risk of losing their place of residence. This step violates the constitutional rights of citizens and the internationally recognised land rights of indigenous communities,” Usman Hamid, executive director at Amnesty International Indonesia, said in a statement.

“Where did the government’s promise, to build the new capital without evictions, go?”

The East Kalimantan Coalition of Civil Society, which consists of 13 civil groups, denounced the planned demolition and in a statement said “attempts to forcefully remove indigenous peoples under the pretext of violating the New Capital’s Spatial Plan is a form of genocide of Indigenous Peoples”.

Preparations are already under way to transitioning the country’s seat of government from Jakarta to Nusantara before the end of Widodo’s term in October.

The outgoing president revealed on February 29 that he planned to work from the new capital in “June or July, depending on when