Recognise rights of our Orang Asal in country, Joas urges govt
KENINGAU: In conjunction with the World Indigenous Peoples Day celebration this year, the Malaysia Indigenous People Network (Joas) is urging the government to recognize the rights of the Orang Asal in this country.
Joas president Yusri Ahon said this was in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (Undrip).
“This year is the 10th anniversary of Undrip, which has been agreed upon and adopted by UN member countries, and the government of Malaysia has expressed unconditional support for this declaration during the UN General Assembly in 2007,” he said at a press conference at the national level 2017 World Indigenous Peoples Day celebration held here on Wednesday.
He said Joas was willing to cooperate with the Malaysian government to safeguard the welfare and future of the indigenous peoples in the country.
Yusri said to date, the efforts and commitment of the Malaysian government in fulfilling its obligations were still unclear.
Indigenous people in Malaysia have yet to receive their full rights recognition as stated in the Declaration.
“Indigenous people still face the problem of intrusion and seizure of lands by big companies as well as by government agencies. In Peninsular Malaysia, the indigenous custom area is often intruded by logging companies, such as in Kelantan.
“In Sabah and Sarawak, policies and decisions by the state governments are mostly contradicting Undrip. Dayaks in Sarawak have been denied their rights to the ‘Menoa Users' and ‘Galau Island' where their custom areas are clearly stated in their custom.
“In Sabah, earlier this year, some of the indigenous people's homes at Kampung Bobotong, Tongod were demolished by the Sabah State Forestry Department,” he said.
He said the struggle of the indigenous people should be respected by the government.
“There may be indigenous people who acted aggressively but the government needs to look positively at their actions because they are very depressed as their sources of livelihood are being disturbed; so the government should look from the point of view of the indigenous people.”
Yusri said Joas urged the government to recognize the rights of the indigenous people and at the same time increase its efforts to fulfil its obligations to the indigenous people as stated in Undrip and the UN Charter.
“Joas welcomes, if given the opportunity, to cooperate with the government to seek mutual understanding for the welfare and future of the indigenous people in the country,” he added.
Also present were Asia Indigenous People past secretary general Gam Shimray, Joas (Sabah) deputy Juhaidi Marindal, Joas (Sarawak) deputy Romnald Sien and Bishop Datuk Cornelius Piong.