Petitioner attending the Petition Revision Hearing of Case No. 148/PUU-XXIII/2025 on the Material Judicial Review of Law No. 15 of 1997 on Transmigration, Tuesday (9/9). Photo by MKRI/Bay.

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Jakarta (MKRI) – The Constitutional Court (MK) resumed the hearing of Case No. 148/PUU-XXIII/2025 on the material judicial review of Law No. 15 of 1997 on Transmigration against the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia on Tuesday, September 9, 2025. The petition was filed by Stepanus Fenyan Bararo.

During the online hearing, the petitioner declared that he withdrew the petition to rewrite. “We will restructure the petition so that it will be better,” he stated.

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Potential Land Conflicts in Transmigration Program

During the preliminary hearing on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, Stepanus Fenyan Bararo argued that Article 24 paragraph (3) of the Transmigration Law, which stipulates that land allocated to transmigrants is granted under ownership rights, has frequently triggered disputes with local communities. He cited, among others, the Rempang Eco City project in Riau Islands and an agrarian conflict in Konawe Selatan Regency, Southeast Sulawesi, both of which sparked land disputes between transmigrants and local residents.

Such a policy, he argued, risks creating structural inequality and discriminatory treatment toward local residents, as they do not automatically acquire ownership rights over ancestral lands. This situation, in turn, may ignite horizontal conflicts between transmigrants and indigenous/local communities.

In addition, the Petitioner highlighted Article 16 of the Transmigration Law, which he deemed problematic as it does not impose obligations on transmigrants to uphold public order, tolerance, and harmony with local communities. This, he contended, amplifies the risk of social frictions, as seen in the Sampit conflict of 2001 and the recent rejection of a church construction in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, in July 2025.

Stepanus argued that the absence of such normative obligations contravenes Article 28D paragraph (1), Article 28H paragraph (1), and Article 28I paragraph (3) of the 1945 Constitution, which guarantee legal certainty, the right to a healthy environment, and the protection of indigenous peoples. Therefore, he petitioned the Court to declare Article 24 paragraph (3) and Article 16 of the Transmigration Law unconstitutional and not legally binding.

Author: Utami Argawati
Editor: Nur R.
PR: Andhini SF.
Translator: Rizky Kurnia Chaesario/Yuanna Sisilia

Disclaimer: The original version of the news is in Indonesian. In case of any differences between the English and the Indonesian versions, the Indonesian version will prevail.

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