Netherlands Indies Civil Administration

The Netherlands Indies Civil Administration (NICA,Nederlandsch-Indische Civiele Administratie in Dutch) was a semi-military organisation, established April 1944, tasked with the restoration of civil administration and law of Dutch colonial rule after the capitulation of the Japanese occupational forces in the Netherlands East Indies (Now Indonesia) after World War II.

January 1946 the name was changed to Allied Military Administration-Civil Affairs Branch (AMACAB). After the British departure from the Indonesian arena and the disbandment of the SEAC in June 1946, the name was changed into Tijdelijke Bestuursdienst (Temporary Administrative Service).

The NICA was established on April 3, 1944, in Australia and operated as a link between the Netherlands East Indies Government in exile and the Allied high command in the command area of the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA). Based in (Camp Colombia) Brisbane it originally reported into the Allied command structure. Early 1944 Dutch Lieutenant-Governor-General H.J. Van Mook and U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, supreme commander SWPA, agreed that areas of the Dutch East Indies recaptured by allied (i.e. US) troops will be put under civil administration of the NICA. Due to political procrastination by the U.S. State Department it lasts until December 10, 1944 before the Van Mook-MacArthur Civil Affairs Agreement was officially signed.

Still in April 1944, the first NICA detachments went ashore at Hollandia (New Guinea). NICA staff consisted of Dutch, Indo (Eurasian) and indigenous Indonesian military or militarized personnel that wore uniforms. The general management was in the hands of Colonel C. Giebel who had the rank of Staff Officer NICA (SONICA). Each detachment was headed by a Commanding Officer NICA (CONICA) responsible for local government. Before the capitulation of Japan NICA units already established civil administration in New Guinea (i.e. Hollandia, Biak and Manokwari, Numfur), the Moluccas (Morotai) and Borneo (Tarakan and Balikpapan).

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