ELEVEN years of returning to peaceful foraging, the residents of Domande village in Malind District, Merauke Regency, South Papua, were suddenly disturbed. This happened when a soldier serving as a village non-commissioned officer (babinsa) conveyed the government’s plan to establish a sugarcane plantation behind the settlement, located about 70.2 kilometers from the city of Merauke.

“He said a new business would come in, and the com