Separatism in Indonesia

GAM commander, Abdullah Syafi'i, with female soldiers holding the Aceh (GAM) flag, during the insurgency in Aceh, 1999.

Separatism in Indonesia is the action of certain people or groups in certain areas who want to commit acts of treason or separate themselves from Indonesia. Togetherness and unification within the Indonesian government is considered to have been completed and must leave to establish a separate state or government. ^[1]

Throughout history, there have been several separatist attempts carried out by certain groups. Separatism occurs in areas far from the center of Indonesian government, usually due to inequality, economic disparities, and uneven development as well as government actions that are considered to only exploit the region. ^{[2] [3]}

Background

Indonesia as a country with high ethnic groups and religious diversity has gone through a long process of facing various problems of separatist movements in various regions. The Indonesian government believes that the country can be united in the Pancasila ideology which can be used as a guide for life in society, the nation, and the state, is also believed to be a way out of the conflict between nationalist and religious groups and its function as a unifying force for the diverse Indonesian nation. ^[4] However, in reality, the ideological values are not actually practiced in real life, there are many inequalities and injustices that cause uneven distribution of development in Indonesia, causing unrest and protests from people who feel isolated and ignored by the government, in this case people who are far from the Indonesian capital. ^[5]

The perceived inequality and injustice made the oppressed people protest against the Indonesian government. Various issues, such as Javanisation, ^[6] legal fraud, and land grabbing by the state are also the reasons. ^[7] The transmigration program is seen as a process of Javanisation by the government. ^[6] Injustice by the government also occurred to the people of Papua and Aceh, causing them to take up arms and tear them apart. The military action taken by the Indonesian government actually resulted in arbitrary action against civilians in the insurgencies areas. Various human rights violations have occurred during the period of violence, such as in the insurgency in Aceh. ^[8]

List of separatist movement

Throughout the history of the founding of Indonesia, there has been a lot of chaos to separate from the Indonesian government, almost all of them are no longer active, but some are still active in exile. ^[9]

Name	Flag	Claimed territory	Map	Status	Ref.
Sumatra
Free Aceh Movement		Aceh		non-active; active in exile	[10]
Free North Sumatra Movement		North Sumatra		non-active	[11]
Free Riau Movement		Riau and Riau Islands		non-active	[12]
Java
Free Pasundan Movement		Banten, Jakarta, West Java		non-active	[13]
Lesser Sunda Islands
Free Bali Movement  [ id ]		Bali		non-active	[14]
East Timor Independence Movement		East Timor		non-active; currently the independent country of Timor-Leste	[15]
Kalimantan
Free Kalimantan Movement		Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, West Kalimantan		non-active	[16]
Sulawesi
Free Minahasa Movement  [ id ]		North Sulawesi		non-active	[17]
Free Sulawesi Movement		Central Sulawesi, Gorontalo, North Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Sulawesi		non-active	[18]
Maluku Islands
Maluku Sovereignty Front		Maluku (as South Maluku)		non-active; active in exile	[19]
Papua
Free Papua Movement		Central Papua, Highland Papua, Papua, South Papua, Southwest Papua, West Papua (as West Papua)		active	[20]

See also

• Indonesia portal
• Politics portal

• List of active separatist movements in Asia
• Politics of Indonesia

References

1. Suharyo (2008). Interaksi Hukum Nasional dan Internasional Dalam Pencegahan dan Pemberantasan Separatisme di Indonesia (PDF). bphn.go.id (Thesis) (in Indonesian). Tim Kerja Penelitian Hukum. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
2. Marr, Carolyn (2011). "Eksploitasi sumber daya alam di Papua selama 22 tahun dengan pendekatan dari atas ke bawah". www.downtoearth-indonesia.org (in Indonesian). Down to Earth. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
3. Adi Nugroho, Kukuh; Royke Deksino, George; Dewa Nugroho, Arya; Kamarani, Savira (1 June 2023). Analisis Sejarah dan Kontemporer Gerakan Separatisme di Indonesia. journal.upy.ac.id (Thesis) (in Indonesian). Jakarta: Universitas Pertahanan Republik Indonesia. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
4. Putri, A.; Danastri, A.N.; Riwut, G.S.; Ekasyahputri, H.E.; Khadijah; Meinarno, E.A. (2021). "Nilai Nasional Dua Daerah Dengan Histori Gerakan Separatisme: Studi Komparatif Aceh Dan Papua" (PDF). Jurnal UNISIA (in Indonesian). 1 (1). Prosiding Konferensi Nasional Universitas Nahdlatul Ulama Indonesia. Depok: Universitas Indonesia: 196–206. ISSN   2797-0248.
5. Subakdi; Prasetyo, H. (2022). "Mengamankan dan Mengamalkan Pancasila Dengan Melakukan Terobosan Hukum". GolRev: Journal of Gorontalo Law Review (in Indonesian). 5 (2). doi: 10.32662/golrev.v5i2.2485 . ISSN   2614-5030.
6. Thornton, David Leonard (1972). Javanization of Indonesian politics (Thesis). The University of British Columbia. doi: 10.14288/1.0101705 . Retrieved 7 November 2013.
7. Aurel, Shafira (19 December 2024). Sindu (ed.). "Pemerintah Merampas 11 Juta Hektare Lahan Masyarakat Adat". kbr.id (in Indonesian). KBR. Retrieved 20 August 2025.
8. Ansori, Mohammad (1 November 2012). "From Insurgency to Bureaucracy: Free Aceh Movement, Aceh Party and the New Face of Conflict". Stability: International Journal of Security and Development. 1 (1): 31–44. doi: 10.5334/sta.ah . ISSN   2165-2627.
9. Pratiwi, Y.D. (2017). "Mengatasi Gerakan Separatis Melalui Operasi Militer Selain Perang". Jurnal Tinjauan Hukum Humaniter Dan Hukum Nasional (in Indonesian). 3 (1). Jakarta: Lembaga KERIS: 19–31.
10. "Atjèh Meurdéhka Kateudong Keulaji". ASNLF (in Acehnese). 2012-04-10. Archived from the original on 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
11. Siregar, Zulhidayat (28 November 2013). "Gagasan Sumut Merdeka Gerakan Separatis!". rmol.id (in Indonesian). RMOL. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
12. Colombijn, Freek (2003). "When there is nothing to imagine: Nationalism in Riau". Framing Indonesian Realities. Brill. pp. 333–370. ISBN   978-90-04-48682-9 . Retrieved 27 December 2023.
13. Prabowo, M. Rikaz; Aman (2022). "Kedaulatan Semu: Praktik Pemerintahan Negara dan Daerah Bentukan Belanda 1947–1948" (PDF). JSB: Jurnal Sejarah, Budaya, dan Pengajarannya (in Indonesian). 16 (1). Yogyakarta: Universitas Negeri Yogyakarta: 18–32. doi: 10.17977/um020v16i12022p18-32 . ISSN   2503-1147.
14. pagaralampos.com. "GBM, Perkembangan Gerakan Bali Merdeka dan Kenapa Itu Hilang, Ada Apa?". pagaralampos.com (in Indonesian). Retrieved 2024-12-07.
15. "East Timor: Indonesia's invasion and the long road to independence". the Guardian. 2019-08-29. Archived from the original on 2022-06-08. Retrieved 2022-06-08.
16. Bada, Rangkaya (30 December 2024). "Land Disputes Beyond Customary Rights: A Critical Challenge for the Dayak". www.dayaktoday.com. Dayak Today. Retrieved 13 August 2025.
17. "Minahasa Merdeka, Ujian Bagi NKRI". www.pinterpolitik.com (in Indonesian). Pinter Politik. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
18. Elis (20 September 2024). Almi (ed.). "Gerakan Sulawesi Merdeka: Dulu Marak, Kini Hilang dari Sorotan, Apa Penyebabnya?". pagaralampos.disway.id (in Indonesian). Pagaralam Pos. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
19. Christian separatist on trial in Indonesia Archived 2018-11-04 at the Wayback Machine . BBC. Retrieved 19 August 2002.
20. "The current status of the Papuan pro-independence movement" (PDF). IPAC Report No.21. Jakarta: Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict. 24 August 2015. OCLC   974913162 . Retrieved 24 October 2017.