Ratification of Indigenous Peoples Bill Must Be Accelerated
Deputy Chair of the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR RI), Lestari Moerdijat, has called for accelerated ratification of the Indigenous Peoples Bill (RUU MHA) into law to provide state recognition of indigenous communities.
Speaking on the occasion of National Indigenous Peoples Day, observed annually on 13 March, Moerdijat stated: “Deliberations on the Indigenous Peoples Bill have been ongoing for 16 years, yet an act has still not been enacted. The momentum of National Indigenous Peoples Day must serve as a catalyst for all parties to strengthen their commitment to recognising indigenous communities in the country.”
According to Moerdijat, there are now no remaining justifications for delaying the passage of the bill. “Data shows that 11.7 million hectares of indigenous territory have been lost, 162 indigenous residents have been criminalised, and millions of additional hectares are controlled by corporations. This is not merely a statistic; this is a humanitarian emergency,” he emphasised.
Moerdijat pointed out that indigenous communities serve as the last bastion for forest conservation and the maintenance of national food security. “They protect forests and provide sustenance without damaging the environment, yet they are frequently criminalised and dispossessed of their ancestral lands. This situation cannot be permitted to continue,” he stated.
The Deputy Chair expressed hope that the inclusion of the bill in the 2026 National Legislation Programme (Prolegnas) would be accompanied by substantive deliberation and result in robust legal protections for indigenous communities.
Current data indicates that between 50 and 70 million indigenous people are scattered throughout Indonesia. The Indigenous Territory Registration Agency (BRWA) has recorded the potential for mapped indigenous territories to reach 32.3 million hectares. As of July 2025, the Indonesian government has formally designated only approximately 333,687 to nearly 400,000 hectares of indigenous forest officially.
Meanwhile, 8.16 million hectares of indigenous territories overlap with mining and plantation concessions. “The state must be present for all its citizens, including indigenous communities. This is a constitutional mandate. They have waited long enough. This year must be the year of recognition, not another year of indefinite waiting,” Moerdijat concluded.
The Ministry of Human Rights has also indicated readiness to conduct educational campaigns to explain the guarantees of indigenous rights as outlined in the bill.