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House lawmakers say Indigenous rights bill inching closer
The bill, which has been languishing in the legislature for more than 14 years, has been placed on a list of top priority bills for 2025 called the Prolegnas.
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Planting trees: A villager of Sihaporas indigenous community in North Sumatra plants a tree in their customary land, last August, to recover the rainforest. (Courtesy of AMAN Tano Batak) (Courtesy of AMAN Tano Batak)
T
he House of Representatives could pass a long-awaited Indigenous rights bill this year that would help protect communities and critical ecosystems, according to lawmakers and activists.
The bill, which has been languishing in the legislature for more than 14 years, has been placed on a list of top priority bills for 2025 called the Prolegnas.
It would replace a patchwork of laws that has failed to secure land rights for Indigenous communities which have long been subject to human rights abuses, including land grabbing, that create displacement and food insecurity.
The bill would grant much-needed legal rights and recognition of land and natural resources, according to supporters.
"Over the years, Indigenous communities have been facing legal uncertainty, and they have been marginalized as a result," said Arzeti Bilbina, a member of the National Awakening Party (PKB) in the ruling coalition.
"That's why we're pushing to pass the bill hopefully this year," she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. "It has been long overdue."
Twelve million acres of customary land have been formally recognized in Indonesia, leaving about 62.4 million acres claimed by Indigenous communities without formal recognition by the government as of 2024, according to the non-profit Ancestral Domain Registration Agency (BRWA).
