Editing Transmigration program

{{short description|Indonesian migration program}}
{{Use American English|date=March 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2021}}
[[File:Sigulai Simeulue.jpg|thumb|Transmigration settlement of Sigulai in [[Simeulue Regency]], [[Aceh]]]]
The '''transmigration program''' ({{langx|id|transmigrasi}}, from [[Dutch language|Dutch]], ''transmigratie'') was an initiative of the [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[Dutch East Indies|colonial government]] and later continued by the [[government of Indonesia|Indonesian government]] to move landless people from densely populated areas of [[Indonesia]] to less populous areas of the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/02/govt-builds-transmigration-museum-lampung.html |title=Govt builds transmigration museum in Lampung &#124; the Jakarta Post |website=www.thejakartapost.com |access-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100604015847/http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2010/05/02/govt-builds-transmigration-museum-lampung.html |archive-date=4 June 2010 |url-status=dead}}</ref> This involved moving people permanently from the island of [[Java (island)|Java]], but also to a lesser extent from [[Bali]] and [[Madura Island|Madura]] to less densely populated areas including [[Kalimantan]], [[Sumatra]], [[Sulawesi]], [[Maluku Islands|Maluku]]  and [[Western New Guinea|Papua]]. The program is currently coordinated by [[Ministry of Transmigration]].

The stated purpose of this program was to reduce the considerable [[poverty]] and [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]] on Java, to provide opportunities for hard-working poor people, and to provide a [[workforce]] to utilize better the [[natural resource]]s of the outer islands. The program, however, has been controversial as fears from native populations of "[[Javanization]]" and "[[Islamization]]" have strengthened [[separatist]] movements and [[communal violence]].<ref name="Anata"/> The incomers are mostly [[Madurese people|Madurese]] and [[Javanese people|Javanese]] but also from other populated areas such as [[Balinese Hinduism|Hindu]] [[Balinese people|Balinese]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Magdalena|first1=Federico V.|title=Islam and the Politics of Identity|url=http://www.hawaii.edu/cps/identity.html|website=University of Hawai'i at Manoā|publisher=Center for Philippine Studies|access-date=26 June 2015}}</ref>

==History==

===Under the Dutch===
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Javaanse koelies keren na werkzaamheden op Sumatra verricht te hebben terug naar Java TMnr 10001443.jpg|thumb|Javanese contract workers in plantation in Sumatra during [[Dutch East Indies|colonial period]], cirica 1925.]]
The policy was first initiated by the [[Dutch East Indies|Dutch colonial government]] in the early nineteenth century to reduce crowding and to provide a workforce for plantations on [[Sumatra]]. The program diminished during the last years of the Dutch era (the early 1940s) but was revived following Indonesian independence, in an attempt to alleviate the food shortages and weak economic performance during [[Sukarno]]'s presidency in the two decades following World War II.

In the peak year of 1929, in the Sumatra's east coast, more than 260,000 contract workers were brought, 235,000 of them from Java. Workers entered into a contract several years long as coolie; if a worker asked for the early termination of the contract in the company ('desertion'), he could be punished with [[hard labour]]. The mortality rate was very high among the coolies and abuse was common.{{Citation needed|date=June 2023}}

===Post-independence===
[[File:Impact of Javanese expansion on Dani tribe in Irian Jaya ABC 1995.webm|thumbnail|1995 [[Australian Broadcasting Corporation|ABC]] news report on the impact of transmigration on the [[Dani people]] in Papua.]]
After independence in 1949, under [[President of Indonesia|President]] [[Sukarno]], the program continued and was expanded to send migrants to more areas of the archipelago such as [[Papua (province)|Papua]]. At its peak between 1979 and 1984, 535,000 families (almost 2.5 million people) moved under the program. It had a significant impact on the demographics of some regions; for example, in 1981, 60% of the three million people in the southern Sumatra province of [[Lampung]] were transmigrants. During the 1980s, the program was funded by the [[World Bank]] and [[Asian Development Bank]] as well as by many [[Western world|Western]] governments who appreciated Suharto's [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] politics.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Imperial Nature: The World Bank and Struggles for Social Justice in the Age of Globalization |first=Michael |last=Goldman|publisher=[[Yale University Press]]|year=2006|page=299}}</ref> However, as a result of the [[1979 energy crisis]] and increased transportation costs, the budget and plans for transmigration were severely reduced.<ref name="Anata">{{Cite book|title=The Indonesian Crisis: A Human Development Perspective|first=Aris|last=Anata|publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2003|pages=229–230}}</ref>

In August 2000, after the [[1997 Asian financial crisis]] and the [[Fall of Suharto|fall of the New Order]], the Indonesian government again reduced the scale of the transmigration program due to a lack of funds.

Under the restructured Department of Manpower and Transmigration (Indonesian: ''Departemen Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi'') the Indonesian government maintains the transmigration program, although on a far smaller scale than in previous decades. The department assists in annually relocating approximately 15,000 families, or nearly 60,000 people. The rate has shown gradual increases in recent years with funding for transmigration activities at $270 million (2.3 trillion [[Indonesian rupiah|IDR]]) and a target of relocating 20,500 families in 2006.<ref>{{cite web | last =Almubarok I | first =Zaky | title =Ditargetkan Transmigrasi 20.500 Keluarga (Target of 25,000 Families set for Transmigration) | work =Berita Ketransmigration (Transmigration News) | publisher =Departeman Tenaga Kerja dan Transmigrasi (Department of Manpower and Transmigration) | date =16 May 2006 | url =http://www.nakertrans.go.id/statistik_trans/KLIPING/Mei%20%2706/Kliping_Mei16a.php | language =id | url-status =dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070927105018/http://www.nakertrans.go.id/statistik_trans/KLIPING/Mei%20'06/Kliping_Mei16a.php | archive-date =27 September 2007 }}</ref> The program again intensified in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Indonesia's transmigration program moves more people outside Java, but they remain poor|url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/12/25/indonesias-transmigration-program-moves-more-people-outside-java-but-they-remain-poor.html|author=The Jakarta Post|website=The Jakarta Post|language=en|access-date=19 May 2020}}.</ref>

==Aims==
The stated purpose of the program, according to proponents in the Indonesian government and the [[economic development|development]] community, was to move millions of Indonesians from the densely populated inner islands of Java, Bali and Madura to the outer, less densely populated islands to achieve a more balanced [[population density]]. This would alleviate poverty by providing land and new opportunities to generate income for poor landless settlers. It would also benefit the nation as a whole by increasing the utilization of the natural resources of the less-populous islands. The program may have been intended to encourage the unification of the country through the creation of a single ''Indonesian'' [[national identity]] to augment or replace regional identities. The official position of the Indonesian government is that there is no separation of "indigenous people" and settlers in Indonesia, because Indonesia is a country "of indigenous people, run and governed by and for indigenous people". It argues instead for the use of "vulnerable population groups" which can include both tribal groups and the urban poor.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Indigenous Environmental Knowledge and its Transformations: Critical Anthropoligical Perspectives|first1=Roy|last1=Ellen|first2=Peter|last2=Parkes|first3=Alan|last3=Bicker|publisher=[[Psychology Press]]|year=2000|pages=121–122}}</ref>

==Effects==

=== Economic ===
In many examples, the program failed in its objective to improve the situation of the migrants. The [[soil]] and [[climate]] of their new locations were generally not nearly as productive as the volcanic soil of Java and Bali. The settlers were often landless people lacking in farming skills, let alone skills appropriate to the new land, thus compromising their own chances of success.<ref>{{cite news  | last =Max Sijabat  | first =Ridwan  | title =Unemployment still blighting the Indonesian landscape  | publisher =[[The Jakarta Post]]  | date =23 March 2007  | url =http://www.thejakartapost.com/review/nat05.asp  | url-status =dead  | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070501081947/http://www.thejakartapost.com/review/nat05.asp  | archive-date =1 May 2007  }}</ref>

===Environmental===
Transmigration has also been blamed for accelerating the [[Deforestation in Indonesia|deforestation of sensitive rainforest areas]], as formerly sparsely-populated areas experienced considerable increases in population. Migrants were often moved to entirely new "transmigration villages", constructed in regions that had been relatively unimpacted by human activity. By settling on this land, [[natural resources]] were used up, and the lands became [[overgrazed]], resulting in deforestation.

===Social and political===
Transmigration in Indonesia covers various regions throughout the country, including Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, Nusa Tenggara region, and Papua.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Abadi |first1=Riki |last2=Hardoyo |first2=Su Rito |last3=Giyarsih |first3=Sri Rum |date=August 17, 2016 |title=PERSEPSI DAN MOTIVASI MASYARAKAT LOKAL TERHADAP PROGRAM TRANSMIGRASI PASCA KONFLIK DI KABUPATEN ACEH BARAT PROVINSI ACEH |url=https://jurnal.ugm.ac.id/kawistara/article/download/15586/10394 |access-date=6 November 2024 |website=Jurnal Kawistara |publisher=Universitas Gadjah Mada}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lampung |first=TIM IT Diskominfotik Provinsi |title=Sejarah Singkat Program Transmigrasi Indonesia |url=https://museumketransmigrasian.lampungprov.go.id/detail-post/sejarah-singkat-program-transmigrasi-indonesia |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=UPTD MUSEUM KETRANSMIGRASIAN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Sulawesi, kepulauan Tujuan Transmigrasi Asal Jatim |url=https://kominfo.jatimprov.go.id/berita/sulawesi-kepulauan-tujuan-transmigrasi-asal-jatim |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=Dinas Komunikasi dan Informatika Provinsi Jawa Timur |language=id}}</ref> The program was originally intended to reduce density in densely populated areas such as Java and Bali and to develop the economy in relatively sparsely populated areas, which were considered to have great potential in the agriculture, plantation, and fisheries sectors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Transmigration in Indonesia: an update |url=https://www.downtoearth-indonesia.org/old-site/ctrans.htm |access-date=2024-11-08 |website=www.downtoearth-indonesia.org}}</ref>

However, transmigration often triggers social conflict, especially with indigenous people in the destination area. Indigenous people often feel marginalized and lose access to land and natural resources that are an important part of their lives.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Ridayat |last2=Rochmat |first2=Saefur |last3=Basr |first3=Laode Ali |date=May 2021 |title=Social Phenomena Between Local Transmigrant Communities and Regional Transmigrant Communities (1994-2020) in Kasimpa Jaya Village, Kec. South Tiworo, Kab. West Muna) |url=https://www.bircu-journal.com/index.php/birle/article/download/1852/pdf |access-date=6 November 2024 |website=BIRLE Journal |publisher=BIRCU Publisher}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Sarmita |first=I Made |date=June 1, 2014 |title=POTENSI KONFLIK DI DAERAH TUJUAN TRANSMIGRASI (KASUS SAMPIT DAN MESUJI) |url=https://ejournal.undiksha.ac.id/index.php/MKG/article/view/11422/7318 |access-date=6 November 2024 |website=E-Journal Undiksha |publisher=Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Budianto |first=Aan |date=March 2020 |title=KETEGANGAN SOSIAL DI LAMPUNG AKIBAT PROGRAM TRANSMIGRASI DI ERA 1950an |url=https://jurnal.uns.ac.id/candi/article/viewFile/41327/27062 |access-date=8 November 2024 |website=Jurnal Candi |publisher=Universitas Sebelas Maret}}</ref>

The program has resulted in communal clashes between ethnic groups that have come into contact through transmigration. For example, in 1999, the local Dayaks and Malays clashed against the transmigrant Madurese during the [[Sambas riots]] and the Dayaks and Madurese clashed again in 2001 during the [[Sampit conflict]], resulting in thousands of deaths and thousands of Madurese being displaced.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Achmad Ubaedillah |title=When ethnicity is stronger than religion: A look into Dayaks and Madurese conflicts in Kalimantan, Indonesia |journal=Refleksi |publisher=[[Syarif Hidayatullah State Islamic University Jakarta]] |date=October 2022 |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=285–304 |doi=10.15408/ref.v21i2.34795 |url=https://journal.uinjkt.ac.id/index.php/refleksi/article/view/34795  |issn=2714-6103|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Figures==
Transmigration from Java and Madura have resulted in large numbers of the population elsewhere, particularly in [[Sumatra]], [[Borneo]], and [[West Papua (region)|Papua]]. Based on 2010 census figures and ethnic prevalence, roughly 4.3 million transmigrants and their descendants live in [[North Sumatra]], 200 thousand in [[West Sumatra]], 1.4 million in [[Riau]], almost a million in [[Jambi]], 2.2 million in [[South Sumatra]], 0.4 million in [[Bengkulu]], 5.7 million in [[Lampung]], 100 thousand in [[Bangka-Belitung]], almost 400 thousand in [[Riau Islands]], totalling some 15.5 million in Sumatra alone. In [[Kalimantan]], there are some 700 thousand transmigrants and their descendants in [[West Kalimantan]], 400 thousand in [[Central Kalimantan]], almost 500 thousand in [[South Kalimantan]], and over a million in [[East Kalimantan]], totalling 2.6 million for the whole area.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} Though numbers are a state secret, well over a million transmigrants are thought to reside in [[Papua (province)|Papua]] and [[West Papua (province)|West Papua]]. Total Javanese and other transmigrants in Indonesia number roughly 20 million throughout the country.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

Transmigrants are not exclusively ethnic Javanese and/or Muslims. For example, in 1994, when [[East Timor]] was still [[East Timor (province)|part of Indonesia]], the largest transmigrant group was Hindu [[Balinese people|Balinese]] (1,634 people) followed by Catholic Javanese (1,212 people).<ref>{{Citation
| last       = Tirtosudarmo
| first      = Riwanto 
| year       = 2007
| title      = Mencari Indonesia: demografi-politik pasca-Soeharto
| publisher  = Yayasan Obor Indonesia
| isbn = 9789797990831
}}{{page needed|date=November 2024}}</ref>

==Criticism==
Indigenous peoples saw the program as a part of an effort by the Java-based Indonesian government to extend greater economic and political control over other regions, by moving in people with closer ties to Java and loyalty to the Indonesian state.{{citation needed|date=April 2011}} The government agencies responsible for administering transmigration were often accused of being insensitive to local customary or ''[[adat]]'' land rights. This was especially true on Borneo with the [[Dayak people|Dayak]] population. In addition to general public criticism, the potential marginalization of native and Indigenous members of the host communities has also been highlighted in research surveying long-term effects of transmigration programs across a number of impacted communities.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pratiwi |first1=Ayu |last2=Matous |first2=Petr |last3=Martinus |first3=Kirsten |title=Transmigration programs and migrant positions in rural community knowledge networks |journal=Journal of Rural Studies |year=2022 |volume=95 |pages=391–401 |doi=10.1016/j.jrurstud.2022.09.019 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022JRurS..95..391P }}</ref>

The environmental damage associated with these projects was caused less by ignorance than by inattention, poor follow-up, and lack of accountability during project implementation. Many environmental issues were identified at project appraisal: the potential for soil erosion, the possibility of declining soil fertility, need for protection against pests and disease, possible adverse effects on wildlife and deforestation, impact on indigenous people, and the need to strengthen the borrower's capacity for managing natural resources. But often, the audits found, the proposed mitigatory measures were unrealistic or were insufficiently monitored by the government.<ref>{{cite web|title=Transmigration in Indonesia|url=http://lnweb90.worldbank.org/oed/oeddoclib.nsf/DocUNIDViewForJavaSearch/4B8B0E01445D8351852567F5005D87B8}}</ref>

===Papua===
In the provinces of Papua and West Papua, the program has resulted in the [[Indigenous people of New Guinea|Papuan population of Melanesian origin]] totalling less than the population of non-Melanesian (principally Austronesian) origin in several locations. According to Papuan independence activists, the Papuans have lived on the New Guinea island for an estimated 50,000 years,<ref>Saltford, J; The United Nations and the Indonesian Takeover of West Papua, 1962-1969, Routledge Curzon, p.3, p.150</ref> but have been outnumbered in less than 50 years by mostly Javanese Indonesians.<ref>[https://www.academia.edu/1196557/Transmigration_in_Indonesia_Lessons_from_its_environmental_and_social_impacts Transmigration in Indonesia: Lessons from Its Environmental and Social Impacts], Philip M Fearnside, Department of Ecology, National Institute for Research in the Amazon, 1997, Springer-Verlag New York Inc. Accessed online 17 November 2014</ref> They criticize the program as part of "an attempt to wipe out the West Papuans in a slow-motion genocide".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://sydney.edu.au/arts/peace_conflict/docs/working_papers/West_Papuan_Demographics_in_2010_Census.pdf|title = Department of Peace and Conflict Studies}}</ref> There is [[Papua conflict|open conflict]] between migrants, the state, and indigenous groups due to differences in culture—particularly in administration, and cultural topics such as nudity, food and sex. Religion is also a problem as Papuans are predominantly Christian or hold traditional tribal beliefs while the non-Papuan settlers are mostly Muslim. A number of Indonesians have taken Papuan children and sent them to Islamic religious schools.<ref>[http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/theyre-taking-our-children-20130503-2inhf.html They're taking our children: West Papua's youth are being removed to Islamic religious schools in Java for "re-education"], [[Michael Bachelard]], Sydney Morning Herald, 4 May 2013, accessed 17 November 2014</ref>

The recorded population growth rates in Papua are exceptionally high due to migration.

Detractors of the program argue that considerable resources have been wasted in settling people who have not been able to move beyond subsistence level, with extensive damage to the environment and deracination of tribal people.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=Documentation |date=2024-12-06 |title=Possible reenactment of transmigration program triggers West Papua-wide protests – Police crackdown on protesters in Jayapura and Nabire - |url=https://humanrightsmonitor.org/news/possible-reenactment-of-transmigration-program-triggers-west-papua-wide-protests-police-crackdown-on-protesters-in-jayapura-and-nabire/ |access-date=2025-03-02 |language=en-GB}}</ref> However, very large scale American and Anglo-Australian strip mining contracts have been developed on the island, as well as other Indonesian islands.

The transmigration program in Papua was only formally halted by President [[Joko Widodo]] in June 2015.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Asril |first1=Sabrina |year=2015 |title=Jokowi Hentikan Transmigrasi ke Papua |url=http://nasional.kompas.com/read/2015/06/04/18471741/Jokowi.Hentikan.Transmigrasi.ke.Papua |website=Kompas.com |access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Ministry of Villages, Development of Disadvantaged Regions, and Transmigration]]
* [[Internal colonialism]]
* [[Nam tiến]]
* [[Sri Lankan state sponsored colonisation schemes]]
* [[Internal migration in Brazil]]
* [[Demographics of Indonesia]]
* [[Demographic threat]]
* [[Project IC]], in neighbouring Malaysia

{{Portal|Indonesia}}

==References==

===General===
*  {{cite journal |last1=Hardjono |first1=J. |title=The Indonesian Transmigration Program in Historical Perspective |journal=International Migration |date=1988 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=427–439 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-2435.1988.tb00662.x  |pmid= 12159549|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1468-2435.1988.tb00662.x |access-date= |language=en |issn=1468-2435 |url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite news |last1=Hollie |first1=Pamela |title=Jakarta fights overcrowding Bali and Java |url= |access-date= |work=The New York Times |date=11 January 1981}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rigg |first1=Jonathan |title=Southeast Asia: a region in transition |date=1991 |publisher=Unwin Hyman |location=London |isbn= 978-0-203-79694-8|pages=80–108 |doi= 10.4324/9780203796948 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=FYHdAAAAQBAJ&pg=PP1 |access-date= |chapter=Land settlement in Southeast Asia: the Indonesian transmigration program}}
* {{cite journal |last1=MacAndrews |first1=Colin |title=Transmigration in Indonesia: Prospects and Problems |journal=Asian Survey |date=1978 |volume=18 |issue=5 |pages=458–472 |doi=10.2307/2643460 |jstor= 2643460  |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/as/article-abstract/18/5/458/21358 |issn=0004-4687|url-access=subscription }}

===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* ''[http://www.downtoearth-indonesia.org/story/indonesia-s-transmigration-programme-update "Indonesia’s Transmigration Programme: An Update"]'', 2001 report by M.Adriana Sri Adhiati and Armin Bobsien (ed.) for "Down to Earth," a UK-based organization working on Indonesian environmental issues. Many details on the Suharto-era program and the changes since then. DtE is highly critical of transmigration.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20070708014636/http://irja.bps.go.id/DDA%202003/Bab%203%20Penduduk/Tabel%203.2/Tabel%203.2.1.htm Transmigration Settlement by Regency in Papua 2000–2003]'', Badan Pusat Statistik, Indonesian government.
* ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20061215223731/http://www.newint.org/issue305/control.html Golden promises] - Indonesian migrants find themselves pawns in a war for control of West Papua.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Transmigration Program}}
[[Category:Internal migration]]
[[Category:Society of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Economy of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Demographics of Indonesia]]
[[Category:Settlement schemes in Southeast Asia]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Politically motivated migrations]]