“Regulation regarding communal land has not been optimal at all, as there is no comprehensive data on the existence of communal land, and there are no procedures to determine communal land,” said Iskandar Syah, as the Director of Communal Land Regulation, Institutional Relations, and PPAT at the Ministry of ATR/BPN.

huma.or.id-Indigenous Communities (MHA) often face natural resource and customary territory confiscation. One of the reasons is the burdensome and politically charged conditional recognition provisions at the regional level. This has led to weak recognition of customary territories, resulting in overlapping with concession permits. This issue narrows down to the status of legal certainty and the protection of rights for indigenous communities in Indonesia.

Issues faced by Indigenous Communities were discussed in the GTRA Webinar Summit 2023 on the topic of “Realizing Legal Certainty and Fulfillment of Indigenous Community Rights” through a virtual event via zoom, on August 7, 2023. The Webinar is part of the peak event of the GTRA Summit 2023 in Karimun District, Riau Islands Province, on August 29-30, 2023.

Raja Juli Antoni, as the Vice Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), revealed that the constitutional basis to recognize the existence of indigenous communities is more than sufficient.

“However, “I believe that in derivative regulations and their operationalizations, there are many conflicts of interest, resulting in ideal normative values as stipulated in the constitution unable to be operationalized or implemented in society concretely,” said Raja Juli during a keynote speech at one of the GTRA Webinars Summit 2023, on August 7, 2023.

Masnaidi, one of the webinar speakers from the Malalo Tigo Jurai Indigenous Community, explained the challenges faced by the community regarding their communal land. There are three major challenges, including the government’s claim over approximately 10,000 hectares of forest areas owned by the Malalo Tigo Jurai Indigenous Community, land mafia practices certifying approximately 60 hectares of communal land owned by the community.

There have been 23 land certificates issued under the names of individuals who are not residents of Malalo Tigo Jurai. When the community inquired, there were 100 hectares in the process of certificate issuance that were completed but not yet signed by the Tanah Datar District BPN Office.

“This is a problem, why are there suddenly certificates on our communal land” said Masnaidi.

Another issue involves the expansion of administrative areas, related to overlapping regions. “This has been a conflict for us since 2021,” said Masnaidi.

Masnaidi continued, mentioning a case of criminalization that befell one of the residents of the Malalo Tigo Jurai Indigenous Community. Due to the weak recognition of communal land. On January 17, 2020, a flash flood disaster occurred in Malalo. One resident named Farida became a victim. Farida received assistance from the Government through CSR from Bank Mandiri, Semen Padang, and others.

Initially, Farida did not inhabit an area classified as a natural disaster red zone, but she had no land left except for the one she intended to build on. After seeking permission from the elders and her community, she was eventually allowed to build her house in Panduang, an area that later became a conflict zone. On July 24, 2020