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Orang Asal decry gov't rejection of UNDRIP recommendations

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Malaysia's Orang Asal community represented by Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia expressed disappointment at The Malaysian government for rejecting recommendations on indigenous peoples at the Universal Periodic Review recently.

The government in rejecting the 6 recommendations by Denmark, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, New Zealand and Finland said that it's own human rights body, SUHAKAM had undertaken an independent National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was submitted in August 2013. It said that a a task force had already been in place to study the recommendations.

For the Orang Asal, this reasoning is unacceptable because their representation comprise only 30% of the task force and they have not been able to counter the government representatives' denial of the systematic violation of their land rights as highlighted in the Suhakam report.

The Sarawak Reported that the recommendations by UNDRIP include:

* Allow for the visit of the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples (Denmark);

* Ensure that laws on indigenous peoples as well as their implementation comply with the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Switzerland);

* Ensure the rights of indigenous peoples and local forest dependent peoples in law and practice, in particular regarding their right to traditional lands, territories and resources (Norway);

* Establish an independent National Commission on Indigenous Peoples and ensure that laws, policies and their implementations are in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Sweden)

Indigenous communities in have long fought illegal logging in Malaysia.

Hundreds of indigenous people are taking the Malaysian Government to court for encroaching on their native lands.

* Establish an independent body to investigate disputes over land, territories and resources (New Zealand);

* Take measures, with full and effective participation of indigenous peoples, to address the issues highlighted in the National Enquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Finland).

The Suhakam National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples was apparently quite damning of the government.

The repercussions for the refusal of the recommendations gives no reprieve for Malaysia's indigenous peoples; they will continue to be bullied not only by people with commercial interest in their land, but also by the very department created to protect the life of the Orang Asals.

Similar press conferences were carried out simultaneously in Kuching, Sarawak and Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Story: Shufiyan Shukur
Narration: Faidzal Mokhtar
Category
TV Saluran - TV Channel
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