Letter to Minister Kaag about Indonesian Omnibus Law

Both ENDS together with 13 other Dutch NGOs and trade unions have written to the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation to express their deep concerns over the hasty approval of the so-called Omnibus Law on Job Creation by the Indonesian parliament.

Institut Dayakologi works to preserve Indigenous Peoples' livelihoods and cultures in West Kalimantan. One of their central goals is to gain ancestral land rights for Indigenous communities. This is not only essential for the security of these communities, but also for the forests and ecosystems on which they depend for their livelihood, identity, culture and customs.

In 2019, women from Semanga, Indonesia took action to improve the water quality in their community affected by palm oil. "The pollution needs to be stopped somewhere and it can start with me." 

Photo Blog - Like many communities in Indonesia, life in Semanga Village, West Kalimantan, revolves around a river. The 90 or so houses follow the curving bank of the Sambas River, each with a path down to a small pontoon where fishing traps and baskets are stacked and boats are tied.

Earlier this month, we learned that Golfrid Siregar, an Indonesian environmental lawyer working for our partner organisation WALHI died under suspicious circumstances. We call for a thorough and transparent investigation and have brought the case to the attention of the Indonesian embassy in The Hague and to the Netherlands' embassy in Jakarta.

On 30 September 2017 Both ENDS submitted a position statement on the draft Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil National Action Plan. The draft National Action Plan purports to represent a blue print for improving the sustainability of the Indonesian palm oil industry. However, Both ENDS has significant concerns about the logic, rationale and purpose behind the draft National Action Plan and its legitimacy as a benchmark for a sustainable palm oil industry.

Between 2010 and 2013, Both ENDS, within an alliance of Indonesian and Dutch organisations and universities, conducted a pilot project to improve the spatial planning in the district of Sanggau in West-Kalimantan, on the island of Borneo, Indonesia, to help local communities with the recognition of their land rights. We can show you a beautiful documentary about one of the villages in this district, Terusan.

On September 23th the European Union and Indonesia concluded their negotiations of the EU-Indonesia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA), a free trade agreement between the EU and Indonesia. Both ENDS condemns this agreement for favoring corporate interests over those of local communities and the environment.

Photo blog - In June, I travelled to Indonesia with our partner organization Puanifesto to research the impacts of nickel mining in East Sulawesi. On July 13th, the news broke that the European Union and Indonesia have reached a political agreement on a free trade agreement that was years in the making, called the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). Nickel from Sulawesi is already being used in European cars. This makes it all the more important that we ensure that human and environmental rights are secured in mining and refining operations in Indonesia, before the road is opened to more extraction and exploitation for the European market. The conversations we have had with communities and workers on East Sulawesi show that more binding regulations are necessary to make this happen and ensure an energy transition that is socially and environmentally just.

Together with Indonesian CSOs Both ENDS is calling on  the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to intervene and direct its client, the Indonesia Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC), and its borrower, the Government of Indonesia, to immediately halt this week's ongoing forced evictions in Tanjung Aan Beach and surrounding areas in Mandalika, Lombok.

Brussels, 18 February 2025 - Over 120 civil society organizations and trade unions from Indonesia and Europe today call on the Indonesian government and the European Union to stop the negotiations for the Indonesia-EU free trade agreement – the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA). 

Yasores was supported by the Samdhana Institute in our Dare to Trust-project, a no-strings-attached way of funding. We only asked them to send a creative report in any shape or form they want about the activities. The Samdhana Institute send this story about the history and founding of Yasores by Mama Loretha, to report about their grant.

Muhammad Al Amin works as the executive director at WALHISulawesiSelatan. WALHI is an Indonesian environmental non-governmental organization, which is part of the Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) network and the biggest environmental non-profit organization in Indonesia.