KUALA LUMPUR: Although Malaysia is a signatory to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples 2007 (UNDRIP), many government departments are not aware of it, with some even thinking it is a memorandum written by non-governmental organisations.
Borneo Resources Institute executive director Mark Bujang said even though UNDRIP was not legally binding, the Government had a moral obligation to reinforce the rights and privileges of indigenous peoples as stated in the declaration.
"UNDRIP is a minimum standard to recognise and protect indigenous lands, territories and resources.
"Unfortunately, many government laws and policies contradict its principles," said Bujang in his paper at a two-day conference on UNDRIP at Universiti Malaya (UM) here, which ended on Wednesday.
Lawyer Yogeswaran Subramaniam said political will was needed to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples like the orang asli.
"There is no need to amend the Federal Consitution. However, the Government seems to be not only indifferent but opposed to orang asli customary land rights," he said in his paper at the conference.
UM law lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Gan Ching Chuan said the Federal Constitution was a dynamic document with several provisions that protected orang asli's rights, including Articles 5, 6, 8, 10 , 11 and 12.
"Article 5 (1) on the right to life also refers to the right of orang asli to protect their livelihood.
"Article 6 on the prohibition of slavery and forced labour is also relevant as many orang asli have had their land taken away and been exploited," he said.
Two orang asli headmen living in the Air Banun Resettle Scheme in Grik, Perak, also spoke about being forcibly resettled in the 1970s and said the full monetary compensation promised was not given.
"Since 1995, many of the Jahai and Temiar families have had to return to our traditional activities like fishing and harvesting rattan and medicinal herbs.
"The Government's decision to relocate elephants to the Temenggor forest has also affected our livelihood as the elephants destroy our crops," said Samad Jerangong and Andak Lembut in their presentation.
Source: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2010/11/11/nation/20101111210045&sec=nation
Written by: Simrit Kaur.
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