AIPP Stands in Solidarity with the Sihaporas Indigenous Community of North Sumatra

29 September 2025

AIPP Stands in Solidarity with the Sihaporas Indigenous Community of North Sumatra

Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), a regional alliance of Indigenous Peoples in Asia, stands in solidarity with the Sihaporas Indigenous Community in Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra, who are once again facing violence and destruction at the hands of powerful corporate and state-backed interests.

The Sihaporas Indigenous Community, descendants of Ompu Mamontang Laut Ambarita Sihaporas, live in Sihaporas Village, Pematang Sidamanik District, Simalungun Regency, North Sumatra Province, and are the custodians of their 2,409-hectare ancestral territory.

On the morning of 22 September 2025, at around 08:40 AM local time, around 150 security personnel of PT. Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), accompanied by daily workers and suspected hired thugs, raided the Sihaporas Indigenous Community in Buttu Pangaturan. They violently attacked community members who were peacefully gathered at the communal house, leaving around 34 people injured, including Indigenous women, elders, and even a child with a disability. The attackers also destroyed the communal post, six motorcycles, and the community’s communal house.

AIPP strongly condemns this blatant and brutal violation of Indigenous Peoples’ rights, as guaranteed under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and other international human rights standards.

We urgently call upon the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Chief of the Indonesian Police, national human rights institutions, civil society, and the international community to take immediate action to:

• Protect the Sihaporas Indigenous Community from further violence and intimidation.
• Hold perpetrators accountable and ensure justice is served
• Respect and uphold the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples to their ancestral lands, territories, and resources.

The struggle of the Sihaporas Indigenous Community is part of the broader, shared struggle of Indigenous Peoples across Asia against land grabbing, water grabbing, deforestation, commercialization, criminalization, and militarization. This was powerfully reaffirmed by the 157 participants from 16 countries—representing 53 national, regional and global organizations during the 5th IKPA Conference, co-organized by AIPP, Indigenous Knowledge and Peoples of Asia (IKPA), PEREMPUAN AMAN, and the Network of Indigenous Women in Asia (NIWA), in North Sumatra from 23–27 September 2025.

The violent attack on the Sihaporas Indigenous Community is not an isolated incident; it is an attack on the dignity, survival, and self-determination of all Indigenous Peoples in Asia.

Their struggle is our struggle. Their fight is our fight.

• AIPP stands with Sihaporas.
• AIPP stands against corporate and state-perpetrated violence.
• AIPP stands for self-determination, justice, and the future of Indigenous Peoples.

Beverly L Longid
Chairperson
Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP) Executive Council

Click here to download the full solidarity statement