Newly obtained internal documents reviewed by Sri Lanka Guardian reveal how George Soros’ Open Society Foundations (OSF) channeled millions of dollars through Jakarta-based intermediaries to civil society networks at the center of Indonesia’s August-September 2025 protests. The demonstrations, officially recorded as the “August 2025 Indonesian protests,” erupted on 25 August over public outrage at massive housing allowances and other perks for Members of Parliament, while food prices, education costs, and taxes soared. Students, gig workers, and labor unions poured into streets across Jakarta, Surabaya, Medan, and dozens of provincial capitals, with clashes escalating into riots. Government buildings in Kediri and Surabaya were torched, public transport infrastructure set aflame, and solidarity protests erupted internationally in Germany and Australia. President Prabowo Subianto, a former general accused of past human rights abuses, was forced to cancel an overseas trip as the domestic crisis deepened.
The Sunday Guardian’s review of internal agreements, grant proposals, and emergency funding contracts shows, for the first time, how OSF’s Network Grants program funded activist hubs that supported the protests and resistance to Prabowo’s policies in Papua. The Network Grants program explicitly aims to provide “flexible, core, and long-term support to backbone organizations” to strengthen democracy, justice, and human rights. At the center of this funding architecture is Kurawal Foundation, described in grant applications as “an intermediary agency for social justice philanthropy…working for structural change.” Kurawal received a grant of USD 1,670,782 from OSF, including USD 300,000 earmarked for Papua, to consolidate civil society movements across Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
The funding translated into concrete political work. Kurawal’s “Expedition to Discover New Voices,” part of the broader “Ekspedisi Indonesia Baru” series, aimed to reshape how young Indonesians envision their country’s future. The project framed Indonesia’s future as monopolized by a small political elite and criticized major policies, such as revisions to military law, as enacted without meaningful public participation. It sought to create “counter-narratives” and public spaces for debate, digitizing 18 terabytes of video and 12,000 photos collected from previous journeys, turning them into documentaries, a book titled Restart Indonesia, and community screenings to mobilize youth ahead of the 2029 elections. Partners included independent media producers, labor organizations, Islamic groups such as Muhammadiyah and Nahdlatul Ulama, and student activist networks. The grant explicitly emphasized short-form digital media for TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, treating youth as “active contributors” rather than passive audiences.
Kurawal also operated the “Dana Cepat Tanggap Darurat” (Rapid Response Fund), providing emergency aid to activists facing criminalization and threats. Internal contracts show that groups such as Kompol and the Social Movement Institute received funds to cover safe housing, food, transportation, and legal costs during the period of 1-30 September, coinciding with the protests. LBH Semarang received similar support in Central Java. While none of the contracts suggest that Kurawal or its partners planned or directed the riots, the financial support functioned as a backstop for activists accused of inciting unrest, raising concerns about foreign involvement in domestic political dynamics.
The funding extended into Papua, where Kurawal’s grants aimed to challenge Prabowo’s flagship “food estate” projects. Agreements with LBH Papua-Merauke and Sophia Nusantara focused on defending indigenous land, documenting human rights violations, and training students as “guardians of ecological democracy.” These projects combined legal education, fieldwork, student mobilization, and digital campaigns under initiatives such as #SaguUntukDemokrasi, fostering a youth-led, long-term resistance infrastructure in response to environmental and social impacts of large-scale state development projects.
Taken together, the documents reveal a layered architecture of influence: OSF’s Network Grants financed Kurawal as an “ecosystem enabler,” which in turn funded multi-year programs shaping youth narratives, protecting activists, and challenging key policies in Papua. While there is no smoking-gun evidence that Soros or OSF orchestrated the August-September unrest, the records show foreign funding embedded in Indonesia’s protest ecosystem at a pivotal moment. Analysts note that the case illustrates how international philanthropy, civil society, and political mobilization can intersect, raising questions about the boundary between legal, democratic support and influence over domestic politics.
