The impact of migration in eastern Indonesia

This is the second of two articles on the political impacts of migration in eastern provinces, prepared by Riwanto Tirtosudarmo, a researcher at the Center for Social and Cultural Studies, the Indonesian Institute of Sciences.

JAKARTA (JP): The central government's transmigration policy in Irian Jaya has contributed to an increase of ethnic tensions there.

In the mid-1980s, as Irian Jaya became the main destination of transmigrants, strong resentment from the local population was aroused.

The resentment of the local population toward the transmigrants, who mostly originated from Java, partly was due to the local people's perception of unfair treatment at the hands of the government. The local population believed the transmigrants received more help than the locals. Controversial issues, such as "Javanization", "internal colonization" and "Islamization" were raised by many foreign non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

The World Bank, the main financial supporter of the transmigration program, also was criticized by both foreign and Indonesian NGOs for supporting the destruction of indigenous peoples and tropical forests in the country.

Even though transmigration has been scaled back since the mid- 1980s, the net migration to eastern provinces is positive, particularly to urban destinations. The shift of migration to urban areas has been particularly dramatic in provinces such as Irian Jaya, Maluku and East Timor. The shift of migration from rural areas to urban areas, a result of the scaled-back transmigration program, also reflects the elasticity of the urban economy, most notably in the informal sectors, in eastern Indonesia. Meanwhile, the labor surplus, particularly among the new working age cohorts, is increasing in western Indonesia.

Java, in particular, could see a significant number of its young people search for economic opportunities by migrating to eastern provinces. It is likely that the bulk of migrants to urban areas will be engaged mainly in a number of activities in the informal sector.

In this regard, migrants tend to be more enterprising than locals due to previous experience in their places of origin. The migrants generally also have more education than locals.

Around 30 percent of the population of eastern Indonesia resides in South Sulawesi. Given its large population and its central location, South Sulawesi is a very important part of the migration system. South Sulawesi, with Ujungpandang harbor, the third largest seaport in the country, and the tendency of its people to migrate, plays a dominant role in the development of other eastern provinces, both economically and politically.

South Sulawesi is the home of three ethnic groups which are well known for their tendency to migrate; namely the Buginese, the Butonese and the Makassarese. In eastern Indonesia, these three ethnic groups are popularly labeled as the BBM, an acronym for Bugis-Buton-Makassar.

The migration behavior of the BBM and its social and economic implications in eastern Indonesia are well documented in various studies. These migrants are well-known as seafarers and traders and have successfully developed social and economic networks in major urban areas across eastern Indonesia.

In eastern Indonesia, most specifically in Irian Jaya and East Timor, the division of labor among ethnic groups is somewhat different as compared to other places. The upper-level economic sectors usually are controlled by Chinese-Indonesians, while middle and lower-level economic sectors are dominated by the Makassarese, the Buginese and the Butonese. The Javanese, as well as other migrant ethnic groups, usually occupy government jobs, such as public servants or members of the military. The Javanese domination of various governmental occupations is a by-product of the process of recruitment for such jobs, which is conducted by the central government in Java.

In Irian Jaya and East Timor, due to their political histories, the appointment of officials by the central government also is dictated by security and military considerations. The feeling of resentment among the local population toward migrants' domination of both the governmental and private sectors is obvious and easily perceived, even by casual observers.

Given their distinct sociopolitical circumstances, conflicts between migrants and the local populations in Irian Jaya and East Timor cannot be understood if they are viewed only from demographic and economic points of view.

In assessing these conflicts, the political histories of the provinces, in relation to the process of building the nation- state, should be given special consideration. Irian Jaya, called West Papua during Dutch colonialism, was integrated into Indonesian in 1963, after diplomatic negotiations and armed conflict between Indonesians and the Dutch.

Irian Jaya was incorporated into Indonesia after the country won a referendum under the supervision of the United Nations. A group of West Papuans, however, rejected the outcome of the referendum and proclaimed their liberation organization (OPM) the legitimate owner of the province and took up armed struggle against Indonesia.

East Timor was integrated into Indonesia in 1976 amid internal conflicts among political parties competing for the right to rule the former Portuguese colony.

Similar to Irian Jaya, armed struggle in East Timor against Indonesia persists today. The role of the underground resistance movements should not be underestimated in assessing the conflicts between migrants and the local indigenous populations.

In East Timor, migrants often decide to leave the province in order to avoid harsh treatment by the East Timorese. The exodus of migrants, many of them BBM, from East Timor gained force after the Habibie government raised the possibility of independence for the province.

After the downfall of Soeharto, the power equation between the central government and the regions was shattered as various groups protesting the central government's domination began to flourish. Demands for independence have been most clearly articulated by the East Timorese and the Irianese. The calls for referendum which were strongly suppressed during the Soeharto regime are now being loudly expressed. At the same time, demand for autonomy also is increasing in Irian Jaya.

Another recent development has occurred in the western-most province of Aceh, which has long experienced political repression from the central government due to accusations that the Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (Free Acehnese Movement) was still operating in the province.

The situation in Aceh perhaps is different from those in East Timor and Irian Jaya, in that the issue is more a matter of human rights violations, particularly by the military, than a secessionist movement.

Migration in east Indonesia during the New Order regime reflected regional responses to wider economic and political changes, particularly the centralistic character of the New Order's economic development.

Similar to the national migration pattern, in-migration has been declining since the mid-1980s. Since that time, migration to urban areas has been increasing. This is partly because the number of transmigrants, who mostly are resettled in rural areas, is declining as the government's capacity to finance the transmigration program has diminished. The migrants to urban areas in eastern provinces mostly take part in small-scale trade and informal sectors. Because the brightest local people have migrated to Java or other areas in western Indonesia, the majority of locals who are left are less educated and less skilled than the migrants.

The centralistic character of the national government, both civilian and military, in which regional level bureaucracies are merely subordinates of the central government, resulted in a recruiting process for public servants which is heavily dictated by the central government. This centralistic recruitment process resulted in the appointment of bureaucrats who were viewed as outsiders by the local population. The unofficially declared military operation areas which led to the excessive presence of military personnel in Irian Jaya and East Timor further exacerbated the local populations' feeling of being colonized by the New Order regime. The feeling of being economically marginalized and politically suppressed is latent in eastern Indonesia, particularly in Irian Jaya and East Timor. The feeling also is present, though not as strong, in Maluku.

In the New Order era, given the political histories of Irian Jaya and East Timor, migration became politicized. It would be misleading if migration was perceived merely as being demographic or economic in nature.

In the currently heated political climate, the issue of regional development clearly can no longer be isolated from the debate surrounding regional political autonomy and the demand for the reformulation of the existing nation-state equation.

In this context, it is not surprising that federalism is becoming an appealing political option. The emergence of various political parties and the demand for a free and democratic general election is likely to be interconnected with demands for more autonomy and independence from provinces like East Timor and Irian Jaya.

Regional development planning in the future, therefore, should take a more comprehensive approach in which the achievement of economic welfare is accompanied by the fulfillment of the political aspirations and human rights of local people.

Window: The resentment of the local population toward the transmigrants, who mostly originated from Java, partly was due to the local people's perception of unfair treatment at the hands of the government.