A new documentary, Pesta Babi (Pig Feast), premiered at the West Papua Forum in Auckland on 7 March 2206, highlighting how Indonesian development projects are devastating indigenous Papuan communities. Produced by West Papuan journalist Victor Mambor and directed by film maker Dandhy Dwi Laksono, the documentary exposes the collusion between the Indonesian government, corporations, and military forces in destroying two million hectares of forest for sugarcane plantations and rice fields under Jakarta’s National Strategic Project. Papuan representatives at the forum reported that community members who criticise or protest these developments face military force to silence their dissent. As local communities and NGOs continue to stop the project, massive deforestation continues to disrupt traditional food sources, alienate indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands, and threaten the region’s biodiversity.
Forum participants called on the Pacific Islands Forum and foreign government to challenge the destruction of critical forests and displacement of thousands of West Papuans. The documentary shows “deeply disturbing” images of military presence and deforestation. The forum, which included panels on militarization, environmental destruction, and human rights abuses, concluded that indigenous people in West Papua are more than ever facing a human rights crisis admidst the deteriorating armed conflict and development projects, both posing an equally serious threat to their survival, culture, and land rights.
