Jakarta (ANTARA) – Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Abdul Muhaimin Iskandar has called on the House of Representatives (DPR) to immediately finalize and pass the Indigenous Peoples Bill.
In a statement received here on Tuesday, Iskandar noted that the legislation has undergone a lengthy deliberation process involving various stakeholders.
He asserted there is no longer any justification for delaying a regulation crucial to the recognition and protection of indigenous communities.
He urged lawmakers to unite over the shared interest of providing legal certainty and protection to traditional communities.
“I appeal to all political factions to work together to finalize and pass the Indigenous Peoples Bill. Let us enact it as quickly as possible,” Iskandar said.
The push to expedite the legislation aligns with a broader goal of positioning indigenous communities as active participants in national development.
Iskandar emphasized that for generations, indigenous peoples have cultivated invaluable ecological knowledge, experience, and wisdom through long-standing interactions with their environments.
He argued that the enactment of the bill is a necessary step not only to strengthen acknowledgment and protection of those communities, but also to empower indigenous groups to actively shape development policies in Indonesia.
The bill has been drafted since 2010, yet it has not been enacted to date, despite having been included in the parliament’s National Legislation Program for years.
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Translator: Anita Dewi, Uyu Liman
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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