The relocation process of thousands of survivors of the Mount Semeru eruption in Lumajang Regency, East Java, now highlights another rarely revealed side, namely the emergence of social conflict between refugees and the host community. This phenomenon is triggered by post-disaster governance policies that have not fully anticipated the long-term impact on economic and social stability in the receiving areas.
In-depth research on the relocation of 10,655 refugees to state forest areas in Sumbermujur Village shows serious friction regarding land use. Local communities feel disadvantaged because they have lost access to productive cultivated land that has been managed for generations, while the compensation provided by the government is considered far from sufficient to restore their lost livelihoods.
Tensions are further escalating due to differing views on collective responsibility. Refugees who refuse to pay public service fees such as electricity and water, considering them a basic right of disaster relief, have instead triggered antipathy from local residents. This situation creates economic marginalization that forces some refugees to return to high-risk zones as sand miners to make ends meet.
The absence of a comprehensive national legal framework regarding the rights of internally displaced persons further complicates the situation. Law Number 24 of 2007 is considered inadequate to address the challenges of land ownership transfer and social protection for citizens who have lost their administrative identities due to disasters. As a result, access to healthcare and education services for refugees is often hindered.
Experts recommend that the government immediately carry out more participatory and adaptive policy reforms. Technical regulations are needed to guarantee certainty of land rights as well as conflict mediation mechanisms involving all affected parties. Learning from the Semeru case, future disaster governance must be able to integrate physical development aspects with the restoration of social relations so as not to trigger new vulnerabilities amidst increasingly erratic climate change.
