TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A black Mitsubishi Triton pickup truck rolled along Jalan Kawasan Sentra Produksi Pangan in Merauke Regency, South Papua, on Saturday, May 23, 2026. The road was little more than dirt and rock. Inside the vehicle were eight Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers in camouflage uniforms carrying assault rifles.
The soldiers' journey came to a halt on a road linking Muting District and Ilwayab. Indigenous Kamuyen residents had blocked the route with a long timber beam and erected a black-painted wooden cross in the middle of the road.
Philipus Chambu, an attorney representing the Kamuyen indigenous community, said the roadblock was a form of protest against a government road project that, residents say, has encroached on customary lands. Soldiers asked several men guarding the barrier to allow them passage. "The soldiers asked whether local residents were the ones blocking the road," Philipus said when contacted on Friday, June 5, 2026.
After speaking for some time with representatives of the Kamuyen community, the soldiers left the village. The Kamuyen people later reported the incident to the Merauke Legal Aid Institute. "The community experienced psychological pressure because the soldiers arrived fully armed," Philipus said.
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