The transmigration program (Indonesian: Transmigrasi) was an initiative of the Indonesian Government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country. This involved moving people predominantly from the island of Java, but also to a lesser extent from Bali and Madura, to less densely populated areas including Papua, Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Sulawesi.
The stated purpose of this program was to reduce the considerable poverty and overpopulation on Java, to provide opportunities for hard-working poor people, and to provide a workforce to better utilize the natural resources of the outer islands. The program, however, has been controversial with critics accusing the Indonesian Government of trying to use these migrants to reduce the proportion of native populations in receiving areas, thus weakening separatist movements. The program has often been cited as a major and ongoing factor in controversies and even conflict and violence between settlers and indigenous populations.

History
The stated purpose of the program, according to proponents in the Indonesian government and the development community, was to move millions of Indonesians from the densely populated inner islands of Java, Bali and Madura to the outer, less densely populated islands to achieve a more balanced population density. This would alleviate poverty by providing land and new opportunities to generate income for poor landless settlers. It would also benefit the nation as a whole by increasing the utilization of the natural resources of the less-populous islands.
The program may have been intended to encourage the unification of the country through the creation of a single Indonesian national identity to augment or replace regional identities. Whether such a change is desirable remains disputed.

Aims
Indonesia's transmigration program was the target of extensive opposition, particularly from within indigenous populations in the regions where transmigrants were settled. Some foreign and domestic observers have also criticized the program's intentions and implementation.
Many indigenous people saw the program as a part of an effort by the Java-based Indonesian Government to extend greater economic and political control over other regions, by moving in people with closer ties to Java and loyalty to the Indonesian state. This was particularly resented amongst some in areas such as Papua, which had an active scessionist movement trying to end what they saw as an unwanted Indonesian military occupation. The government agencies responsible for administering transmigration were often accused of being insensitive to local customary or adat land rights.
Transmigration has also been blamed for accelerating deforestation of sensitive rainforest areas, as formerly sparsely-populated areas experienced great increases in population. Migrants were often moved to entirely new "transmigration villages," constructed in regions that had been relatively unimpacted by human activity. By settling on this land, resources were used up and the lands became overgrazed, resulting in deforestation.
In many examples, the program also failed in its objective to improve the situation of the migrants. The soil and weather of their new locations were generally not nearly as productive as the volcanic soil of Java and Bali. The settlers were often landless people lacking in any farming skills, let alone skills appropriate to the new land, thus compromising their own chances of success..

Current Status

Demographics of Indonesia
Migration
Political migration
Human rights in western New Guinea
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