Minister Iftitah Deploys Young Patriots as Problem Solvers in Transmigration Areas

Indonesia needs more young people who not only possess knowledge but are also capable of solving real problems within society. Driven by this spirit, Transmigration Minister M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara has tasked 1,476 participants of the 2026 Patriot Expedition Team (TEP) to become problem solvers in 53 transmigration areas across Indonesia. “Indonesia requires human resources who no longer wait for orders, but are able to see problems, analyse them, and then deliver solutions. That is what we call Initiative Discipline,” Iftitah said during the opening of the 2026 Patriot Expedition Team Briefing in Bogor, West Java, on Saturday, 25 July 2026. According to him, initiative discipline is a character built from curiosity, the courage to take initiative, creativity, and the ability to innovate. This character is important for producing excellent human resources as well as future Indonesian leaders. “I want to emulate the German discipline principle, namely Initiative Discipline. It is built from high curiosity. Excellent human resources no longer wait for orders, but possess creative and innovative power,” he said. Iftitah stressed that Indonesia’s development challenges cannot be adequately answered with theories in lecture halls. Therefore, TEP participants will go directly into the field to identify problems, map potential, conduct scientific analysis, and formulate solutions that can be implemented together with the community and local governments. “If you write a thesis by observing a problem, that is science. Science must have methodology, systematics, analytics, and objectivity. It cannot be based solely on superficial observation or information alone,” he said. According to Iftitah, the presence of young Patriots in transmigration areas is also part of the state’s investment in distributing excellent human resources to all corners of Indonesia. “If you are not present in every corner of Indonesia, others will be. Therefore, the state facilitates your presence to see problems in the field directly. If there is no solution yet, that is fine. We will find it together,” he said. He reminded the Patriots that they will face complex problems, some of which have persisted for decades. Because of this, they are not required to solve all problems in a short time, but are expected to become part of a sustainable chain of resolution. “In transmigration, there are land issues that have not been resolved for 23 years. Do not expect everything to be solved in one or two days. The important thing is that we keep continuing. Whoever the minister is, whoever the president is, transmigration development must keep moving forward,” he said. For Iftitah, the success of development is ultimately determined by the quality of the people who carry it out. He quoted a philosophy he has held since serving in the military: the man behind the gun. “No matter how sophisticated the tool, the determining factor is the human. Everything must start with good intentions.” Iftitah said that good intentions must be accompanied by a strong will to produce change. “Will is a strong desire. But the intention must be good. If the intention is good, a strong will shall find its way,” he said. On the occasion, Iftitah also encouraged participants to document their experiences, ideas, and lessons learned during the expedition. The documentation is expected to be compiled into a book entitled Philosophy and Thoughts of Patriots as a record of the younger generation’s thinking for Indonesia’s development. The 2026 Patriot Expedition Team consists of 1,476 participants divided into 246 teams and will serve in 53 transmigration areas. These areas include 41 National Priority Transmigration Areas, two priority areas of the Ministry of Transmigration, and 10 transmigration areas in Papua. The Patriot Expedition Team programme is part of the Patriot Transmigration initiative, one of the flagship programmes within the Ministry of Transmigration’s 5T agenda. The programme is designed to bring scientific knowledge together with real problems in the field, while presenting the younger generation as agents of change in transmigration areas. Through the presence of the Patriots, the Ministry of Transmigration hopes that various regional potentials can be discovered and developed, community problems can be scientifically solved, and new innovations, policies, and economic activities can emerge to create jobs and improve welfare. From the transmigration areas, the young Patriots are expected to prove that knowledge does not stop at being theory, but emerges as a real solution for Indonesia.