Deputy Home Affairs Minister urges Papua Highlands Province to draft a provincial regulation

Jakarta — Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Ribka Haluk pressured the Papua Highlands Provincial Government to promptly draft the Provincial Regional Regulation (Perdasi) as the legal basis for addressing customary conflicts.

“After we checked, regarding the emergency response SK, this has not yet existed; likewise, the Perdasi concept does not yet exist. Therefore, we have been providing support up to now,” Ribka said in a statement in Jakarta on Tuesday.

This was conveyed by the Deputy Home Affairs Minister Ribka during a follow-up meeting discussing the Decree on Emergency Response to Social Conflict and Assistance in the Preparation of Regulations to Handle Customary Conflicts at the Governor’s Office of Papua Highlands on the same day.

Ribka noted that drafting the regulation is important to support handling post-conflict tribal issues in the region.

She said the regulation is needed to strengthen the steps of the regional government in addressing conflicts, from the emergency response phase to the rehabilitation stage.

She explained that the Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has deployed a technical team to provide assistance together with the Papua Highlands Provincial Government in preparing the key points for the regulation’s drafting.

Next, the regional government will prepare a proposed inventory of problems (DIM) to be discussed with the Papua Highlands DPR, the Papuan People’s Assembly (MRP), the Regional Leadership Coordination Forum (Forkopimda), customary leaders, and other related parties.

The regulation is expected to serve as a guide for the regional government and security forces so that conflict handling is conducted with consideration of local social conditions and the characteristics of the local community, and remains in line with applicable laws.

“The regional government will prepare the concept and will issue Perdasi for the province. For the New Autonomous Region (DOB), the Papua Highlands Province will be the first area to draft this regulation and is expected to serve as an example in preventing and addressing post-conflict tribal warfare in other areas,” he said.

In his view, this step is an important part of building a more structured conflict-handling system, legally grounded and in accordance with the social conditions of the Papua Highlands community.