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The transmigration program was also conducted in the area of East Nusa Tenggara,
but it was only implemented in 2009, located in Lailara District East Sumba. So far,
people of East Nusa Tenggara had been included as the migrants sent out of East Nusa
Tenggara. The Participants of the transmigration to Lailara were NTT’s own population
(Local Transmigration) resettling as many as 100 families with the number of 386 people.
In 2012, 100 families with 458 people69 were again resettled to Lailara. Data from BPS
show that there has been an increase in the population of the following provinces:
Papua, West Papua, Maluku, North Maluku and East Nusa Tenggara, 1971, 1980, 1990,
2000 and. (Table 1)

Table 1. The population of Papua, West Papua, Maluku, North Maluku and NTT in 1971, 1980, 1990,
2000 and 2010

No Province 1971 1980 1990 2000 2010
1 Papua 923,440 1,173,875 1,648,708 2,220,934 2,833,381
2 West Papua - - - - 760,422
3 Maluku 1,089,565 1,411,006 1,857,790 1,205,539 1,533,506
4 North Maluku - - - 785,059 1,038,087
5 NTT 2,295,287 2,737,166 3,268,644 3,952,279 4,683,827

Source: http://www.bps.go.id/tab_sub/view,php

The increase in population occurred from 1990 to 2010 in Papua and East Nusa Tenggara,
but in Maluku, there was a decrease in its population in 2000 due to unrest and regional
expansion. The 2010 census showed an increase in population of the provinces of Maluku
and North Maluku. The population growth in East Nusa Tenggara was not accompanied
with an increase in employment for the population of productive age. As a result, many
people of East Nusa Tenggara sought employment in other areas or as migrant workers
in neighboring countries. In big cities such as Surabaya, Jakarta, and Yogyakarta, there
are usually communities of people from East Nusa Tenggara, which is growing every year
(http://www.bnp2tki.go. id/read/10158/Kepala-BNP2TKI).
In 1999, there were racial riots in Maluku. This caused an exodus of Malukan and other
ethnic groups to leave Maluku. After Maluku was considered conducive to live in again,
not all the refugees went back. Some chose to stay where they were. Data from Table 1
shows that the population of Maluku and North Maluku from 2000 to 2010 increased by
only about 200 to 300 hundred people. Meanwhile, in Papua and East Nusa Tenggara, it

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