Since 2016 until now, thousands of Red Crosses have been planted on the indigenous land of the Papuan people, in Indonesia. The Red Cross movement by local residents is a form of protest and prayer against the ongoing problem of Indigenous land grabbing because there is no firm action or assistance from the government regarding this issue.
An environmental warrior and leader of the Awyu tribe, Hendrikus Franky Woro, said, “Because we saw that the corporate oligarchs came and took away our indigenous land rights without our knowledge and permission, we planted this Red Cross sasi sign so that they would repent.” Sticking the Red Cross on their Indigenous land is done because the Papuan people see that the government, which is supposed to protect and defend their rights, does not care about them, so the only thing they can hope for is God who will protect their indigenous land from invaders, both foreign and domestic companies.
The problems faced by the Awyu tribe are a small illustration of other situations of customary land grabbing. Millions of hectares of forest have been given to oil palm plantations. Most recently, the government has been preparing 2 million hectares of sugarcane plantations, which will affect more tribes and ecology in Papua.
Photo(s)
Red Cross, courtesy of LaoLao Papua.Red Cross standing with Laudato Si’ poster, courtesy of @cypripajudale (Twitter)
