excusez-moi?: In solidarity with the struggles of the indegenous people of Sarawak

Friday, February 27, 2009

In solidarity with the struggles of the indegenous people of Sarawak

Photo by Steven Siewert

Enough of raping our anak-anak Bangsa Malaysia in Sarawak of what rightly belong to them.

For the past three decades, there have been violation of the rights of indigenous groups in Sarawak, especially the Dayaks. This is done by taking their ancestral lands away from them through a legal and systematic means. These are the lands which they have native customary rights (NCR) . But "these lands are given away to companies closely connected with State Government leaders, the political elites and cronies."

On 23 February 2009,
“Rampaging the Rainforests” SPEAK OUT, Signature Campaign and Online Petition were launched by
People's Coaliation on Food Sovereignty (PCFS),
Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA),
Tenaganita and
Pesticides Action Network Asia & the Pacific (PAN AP)
to call for a stop to violations of the Native Customary Rights in Sarawak.

Some excerpt from the press release:

A leader from Sibu, James Adau said, "The floods have carried pesticides used in the palm oil plantations to our rivers and poisoned our waters. This means that the government is poisoning us." Moreover, he encouraged all the indigenous peoples to rise up against all injustices "for we have no other choice".

An Iban, Douglas Alau Tayan shared how they are being marginalised in their own land. He said, "The Ibans are 60 per cent of the population in Sarawak and yet we are identified as 'others' in the context of the Malaysian national registration."

In Kampung Wawasan area, villagers reported that an oil palm company repeatedly sent thugs to pressure them to sell their land. Although the community filed more than 20 reports, the police never came. These clearly indicate that the plantation industry and the state government are acting against the letter and the spirit of the Principles and Criteria of the RSPO.

Today, large oil palm plantation companies backed by the state agencies and in collusion with the local government, threaten the Dayaks' existence and their NCR. Sarawak has witnessed a highly rapid and aggressive expansion exercise to establish large-scale commercial cultivation of oil palm over the last decade and a half-albeit mostly on indigenous land sequestered through questionable means. This has led to growing conflicts between indigenous peoples and state-owned and private corporations in Sarawak.