JAKARTA, thekabarnews.com – Human Rights Minister Natalius Pigai warned on Thursday, September 17, that ethnic and racial hostility could deepen the conflict in Papua. Moreover, he urged the government to address discrimination before tensions between communities escalate.

“What surprises me is that resistance in Papua is shifting toward racism and ethnicity. If resistance is based on differences in ethnicity, race, group or religion, we cannot take it lightly,” Pigai told a news conference in Jakarta, according to footage published by Kompas.

Pigai described what he sees as a change in the forms of resistance over time. According to his account, sporadic armed opposition in the 1960s was followed by political advocacy, international campaigning and underground organizing in urban areas.

He said the prospect of hostility directed at people because of their identity now required particular attention.

His warning is an assessment, not evidence that every incident in Papua has an ethnic motive. The region’s conflicts have different causes and affect Indigenous Papuans and other residents in different ways.

The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has previously identified political, economic and social-cultural dimensions to violence in Papua. These dimensions include ethnic tensions.

The scale of violence makes civilian protection urgent. Komnas HAM recorded 42 incidents of violence and armed conflict in Papua during the first half of 2026. These incidents left 59 people dead and 50 injured.

Its figures do not establish how many of those incidents involved racial or ethnic hostility. Additionally, Komnas HAM has asked the Presidential Staff Office to advance policies that reduce violence and meet the basic needs of people displaced by the conflict.

At the same news conference, Pigai said security personnel and armed groups must keep civilians out of military operations. Furthermore, he called on them to refrain from targeting civilians.

“Under the laws of war and humanitarian law, never involve civilians in military operations. It is strictly prohibited,” he said.

Pigai called for preventive measures and equal treatment to stop distrust between Indigenous Papuans and other residents. He warned that distrust could harden into a wider divide.

Separately, the Human Rights Ministry has urged a broader approach to peace. They argued that responding to violent incidents one by one will not break the cycle of conflict.

The immediate test is whether those proposals produce concrete protection for civilians and meaningful action against discrimination.