Proyek Strategis Nasional (PSN) Kawasan Pengembangan Pangan dan Energi Merauke di Papua Selatan menimbulkan persoalan serius dalam tata kelola agraria. Laporan CELIOS bertajuk “PSN Menggerus Otsus dan Hak Orang Asli Papua” mengungkap bahwa pemekaran daerah melalui revisi Undang-Undang Otonomi Khusus Papua mempermudah praktik perampasan lahan masyarakat adat akibat kekosongan hukum tata ruang yang disengaja. “Sehingga, kita dapat melihat bahwa pemekaran daerah melalui revisi Undang-Undang Otonomi Khusus Papua mempermudah praktek perampasan lahan masyarakat adat karena kekosongan hukum dalam pengaturan kawasan dan tata ruang yang disengaja,” jelas Muhamad Saleh, peneliti hukum CELIOS.
Penolakan masyarakat adat muncul di berbagai distrik seperti Ilwayab, Tubang, Okaba, Eligobel, hingga Kimaam dan Padua. Ketua LBH Papua Pos Merauke, Johny Teddy Wakum menegaskan, “Kita menyerukan agar prinsip-prinsip pengakuan, penghormatan, dan perlindungan masyarakat adat dijadikan prioritas dalam kebijakan pengelolaan sumber daya alam, khususnya di tanah Papua.” Senada, Direktur Hukum CELIOS, Mhd Zakiul Fikri, menyebut kondisi ini sebagai bentuk land grabbing yang melanggar hukum. “Padahal, tanah-tanah yang masuk dalam kluster PSN itu bukan lahan kosong tak bertuan (terra nullius), tetapi lahan yang dimiliki dan dikelola masyarakat adat secara turun-temurun,” tegasnya.
Presiden Institut Otonomi Daerah (i-OTDA), Prof. Djohermansyah Djohan, turut menimpali bahwa pelaksanaan PSN harus menyesuaikan kekhususan daerah Otsus. “Kekhususan tersebut tidak boleh diamputasi oleh regulasi pusat. Kalau tidak, maka tata kelola ulayat berpotensi lebih menguntungkan pemerintah dan swasta ketimbang masyarakat adat,” ujarnya. Ia menegaskan bahwa meski UU Otsus Papua mengatur perlindungan masyarakat adat, implementasinya masih lemah sehingga pengambilan paksa tanah adat oleh penguasa tetap terjadi.
The National Strategic Project (PSN) for the Merauke Food and Energy Estate in South Papua has raised serious concerns over land governance. A CELIOS report titled PSN Eroding Special Autonomy and Indigenous Papuan Rights reveals that the regional expansion enabled by the revised Papua Special Autonomy Law has facilitated land grabbing from Indigenous communities, largely due to a deliberate legal vacuum in spatial planning regulations. “This shows that the regional split under the revised Special Autonomy Law makes it easier to dispossess Indigenous lands, because of intentionally created loopholes in spatial and land-use governance,” explained CELIOS legal researcher Muhamad Saleh.
Resistance from Indigenous communities has emerged across districts such as Ilwayab, Tubang, Okaba, Eligobel, Kimaam, and Padua. Johny Teddy Wakum, head of the Papua Legal Aid Institute (LBH Papua) in Merauke, emphasized, “We call for recognition, respect, and protection of Indigenous peoples’ rights to be prioritized in natural resource governance, particularly in Papua.” Echoing this, CELIOS Legal Director Mhd Zakiul Fikri described the situation as a form of unlawful land grabbing. “The lands designated for the PSN are not vacant or ownerless (terra nullius). They are territories that have been owned and managed by Indigenous peoples for generations,” he stressed.
Professor Djohermansyah Djohan, President of the Institute for Regional Autonomy (i-OTDA), added that the implementation of PSN must respect Papua’s special autonomy status. “That special status cannot be overridden by central government regulations. If it is, land governance will likely benefit the government and corporations more than Indigenous communities,” he warned. He further underlined that while the Papua Special Autonomy Law formally protects Indigenous peoples, its enforcement remains weak, allowing authorities to continue dispossessing customary land.
