Indonesian Christians Fear War Over Islands
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
JAKARTA (Worthy News) – An Indonesian house church organizer hopes a territorial dispute over four small islands in western Indonesia will not lead to war.
Victoria, who uses only this name publicly as she works in a volatile Muslim area of Indonesia’s Medan city, spoke after the country’s president stepped in to mediate in a standoff between the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra.
Tensions rose between the two neighbors over the islands—Pulau Mangkir Gadang, Pulau Mangkir Ketek, Pulau Lipan, and Pulau Panjang—after Aceh recently lost control over them.
In April, the Ministry of Home Affairs reassigned the four islands from Aceh’s Aceh Singkil Regency area to North Sumatra’s Central Tapanuli Regency, formalising a 2022 decision.
The tensions were due to add to anxiety among minority Christians in Aceh, where authorities have imposed strict Sharia (Islamic) law in the province.
Victoria is organizing prayer meetings as the decision by Indonesia’s central government to remove Aceh’s control over the islands already triggered protests.
‘ADMINISTRATIVE ERROR’
Acehnese communities and groups like the Aceh Students’ Association of Greater Jakarta demand that the decree be revoked and that the ministry admit it made an “administrative error.”
Aceh Governor Muzakir Manaf, also known as Mualem, says the islands have long belonged to Aceh based on historical and administrative records.
The governor reportedly suggested that the dispute might be linked to “offshore resource interests,” referring to significant oil and natural gas discoveries in the Andaman Sea.
Under a 2005 peace deal, Aceh would receive a larger share of the revenue generated from these natural resources.
“Let’s pray there will be no war,” Victoria told Worthy News.
Deputy Speaker of Indonesia’s House of Representatives, Sufmi Dasco Ahmad, confirmed Saturday that President Subianto Prabowo had agreed to “address the issue personally.”
‘BOUNDARY DISPUTE’
“The [Indonesian] president has taken over the matter of the islands’ boundary dispute,” said Sufmi, a close confidant of Prabowo, in published remarks.
He added that a decision on the island’s future was due within the next few days.
Critics claim Indonesia’s home minister aims “to gift” the islands to North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution, son-in-law of former President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, as the islands hold substantial untapped oil and natural gas reserves.
Home Affairs Minister Tito Karnavian is known to be within former President Jokowi’s close circle, underscoring what critics say is massive corruption by Indonesia’s political elite.
However, the minister has defended his decision to make the Aceh islands part of North Sumatra, saying, “Historical records indicate the dispute over the islands existed since 1928.”
He said Aceh could file a lawsuit in Indonesia’s Administrative Court, known locally as Pengadilan Tata Usaha Negara, or PTUN, to fight the move.
SEEKING COMPROMISE
North Sumatra’s governor visited Aceh earlier this month to seek a compromise.
He said he discussed “a collaborative approach” to managing the islands, “including opportunities for tourism and other areas of joint economic development.”
Indonesian media reported that Governor Mualem, a former commander of the rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), briefly welcomed Bobby but delegated talks to lower-ranking provincial officials.
The dispute reopened old wounds in Aceh, a province with autonomous status. Concerns about governance and territorial boundaries remain sensitive topics in the province despite the 2005 accord ending a decades-long conflict in the Aceh province of Indonesia.
Under the Aceh peace agreement, officially known as the Memorandum of Understanding, Indonesia’s government agreed to withdraw its military and police forces from the province.
The GAM pledged to “decommission its weapons” and “demobilize” its forces, among other things, in exchange for amnesty and reintegration into society.
Indonesia’s president is now under pressure to maintain the status quo and avoid renewed unrest in the region over the Aceh islands in the world’s largest Muslim nation.
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