Leiden University Student Repository

Tahitu, Nerima Sharderu (2018)

Claiming Territory: The Conflict between the indigenous communities in West Papua and the Indonesian State

Master thesis | Asian Studies (60 EC) (MA)

This thesis addresses the struggles over land, natural resources, and their corresponding rights in West Papua, Indonesia. The struggles for independence and the territorial conflicts have provoked the establishment of an indigenous-based independence movement, which opposes the central government policies and state-deployed security forces. To control the separatist movement, 45.000 Indonesian troops are currently occupying the region. This occupation has been ongoing for half a century. An estimated 500,000 Papuans have died at the hands of the military. All these events were linked to land tenure and land grabbing practices. Special attention is paid to the indigenous Papuans, as they rely on their lands for survival. Any incursion onto their land has created severe problems within and between indigenous communities. This thesis attempts to shed light on current events, the different actors involves and the impacts it has on the indigenous way of life of the Papuans.

land rights

land conflict

indigenous peoples

West Papua

Indonesia

indigenous rights

violence

independence movements

Author

Tahitu, Nerima Sharderu

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Specialisation

Politics, Society and Economics

Supervisors

Arps, Ben

ECTS Credits

15

Language

en