Indigenous Peoples

There are numerous groups of

indigenous peoples (other than the
Malays) although they formed only
approximately 2.1 million or 10.2% of
the population of Malaysia. The major
issue confronting these ethnic
communities is the dispossession of
land.
Until 1996, 18,587.26 hectares of land
have been gazetted as Orang Asli Reserves in the Peninsula, while another
83,269.86 hectares have been applied for by the Department of Orang Asli
Affairs (JHEOA). Given the Orang Asli population of 92,529, this works out to
only 0.2 ha or less than 2 acres per individual. Furthermore, according to the
JHEOA, only 0.02% of Orang Asli have title to their land. (Suaram, 1998: 131).
In Sabah and Sarawak, in theory, laws pertaining to National Customary Rights
(NCR) and other similar laws protect the right to land. In practice the state has
been able to alienate large tracts of land for logging, development projects and
commercial purposes.
For example, about 12% of the total area of Sabah has been reserved for
commercial plantations to government statutory bodies.
In Sarawak, over the years, amendments to the Land Code have been passed to
make it more difficult for indigenous communities to hold on to or protect their
land. Such amendments empower the Minister to extinguish NCR to any state
Land. Such policies have led to indigenous communities resorting to blockades
to protect their land but amendments to the Forest Ordinance in 1987 make
such action subjected to arrests and remand fines of RM6,000 for the first
offence and RM50 each day the offence continues (Suaram, 1998: 135).
Violations of native land rights have been assiduously monitored and
documented by several NGOs working in this area as follows:
Indigenous land rights in Peninsular Malaysia: Orang Asli Association
(POASM), Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC)
For Sabah: Partners of Community Organizations, Sabah (PACOS).
For Sarawak: IDEAL, Indigenous People Development Centre, and
SACESS.
A national conference on "Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights and Identity" was
held in Kuala Lumpur in September 1996, organised by the Indigenous Peoples'
Network, Malaysia (JOAS). The conference ended with a number of resolutions
aimed at recognising and protecting indigenous peoples' land rights. In its 1998
report on indigenous peoples and their plight, SUARAM concludes that:
"Indigenous peoples in Malaysia are marginalised socioeconomically and culturally. Politically the natives of Sabah and
Sarawak as a whole are in a relatively better position compared to
the Orang Asli of Peninsular Malaysia. However, they share a
common problem of being dispossessed from their land, which
had led to an erosion of their cultural identity. The erosion of their
cultural identity is being exacerbated by an inappropriate
education system, which fails to accommodate their beliefs and
practices and in some cases by efforts to convert them to other
religions. Additional factors include the effects of mainstream
development as well as policy such as that for the integration and
assimilation specifically targeting the Orang Asli in Peninsular
Malaysia. This policy imposition, without consultation with the
affected peoples, contains values that run counter to their

worldviews, lifestyles, cultural and spiritual traditions." (p. 152).