‘One in every two Orang Asli under poverty line’

Patrick Lee | April 20, 2011

Even with several hundred million ringgit allocated to them, the indigenous people continue to live below the poverty line.


PETALING JAYA: Despite being of Bumiputera status, Malaysia’s indigenous people continue to live in a state of neglect and despair, according to the 2010 US State Department Human Rights Report (Malaysia).

The report said that although indigenous tribes were granted constitutional rights, these did not necessarily follow into practice.

“Indigenous people in peninsular Malaysia had very little ability to participate in decisions that affected them. The government did not effectively protect indigenous persons’ civil and political rights,” the report said.

Quoting the 10th Economic Malaysia Plan (RMK-10), the report added that nearly half of the 30,000 Orang Asli households (or 150,000 people) were living below the poverty line.

This is despite an allocation of about RM377 million for the Orang Asli during the Ninth Economic Malaysia Plan.

“Of these, about 5,700 households (19%) were considered to be hardcore poor,” the report said.

However, the report stressed that the numbers may have been under-reported as the RMK-10 only considered Orang Asli living in villages and not those in the rainforest.

Not represented by Orang Asli

There were also less instances of school dropouts among the Orang Asli, with a primary school dropout rate of 20% in 2010, compared with 30% in 2008.

Secondary school students were also less known to drop out of school, although the number was still very significant. The rate here was 30% in 2010, compared with 50% in 2008.

The US-based report also looked into the under-representation of Orang Asli in government-affiliated agencies.

It said that only one Orang Asli held a managerial position within the Department of Orang Asli Development (JKOA, formerly the Department of Orang Asli Affairs).

The report added that only five Orang Asli out of 17 members sat on the government-sponsored Orang Asli National Advisory Council.

Land grabbed from the Asli

Another major issue that the Orang Asli faced was the loss of their land at the hands of the government.

The report said that although the Orang Asli were allowed to live on their land as “tenants at-will” according to the Aboriginal People’s Act, they were not given land rights.

This led to a decrease in the total area of Orang Asli reserve land, which was apparently re-zoned for development. These encroachments sometimes led to confrontations with private companies.

“Although the Orang Asli were given the authority to reside on the land, these rights were often undocumented. This led to confrontations between the Orang Asli and logging companies,” the report said.

It added that notices in land-related laws (including purchase and condemnation) did not need to go beyond the casual notice in the newspaper.

Even these notices were not available to the Orang Asli.

“In past years this deprived some indigenous persons of their traditional lands with little or no legal recourse,” the report said, although native customary titles were recognised by the Federal Court in 2007.

Penans also affected

Like their peninsular counterparts, the Penans of Sarawak also faced a series of frustrating land issues.

Although having native customary rights (NCR), Penan land (and other indigenous groups) was allegedly often trampled upon by the state government and private companies.

“Indigenous rights groups alleged that Chief Minister Taib Mahmud leased Penan and other tribes’ NCR land to logging companies and land developers in exchange for political favours and money,” the report said.

Angry with the state, the Penan often came to blows with the government, forming blockades that prevented loggers from entering their land.

The report said that the state government then agreed to lift the Penan out of their economic troubles, including the provision of farmland, medical facilities and other basic amenities.

However, it is not clear if these promises have been granted. FMT previously reported that more than half of the 16,000 Penans do not have access to MyKads.

The report also looked into the Penan sexual abuse cases, where timber company workers were alleged to have raped and molested several Penan women and girls.

Even with a public outcry and ministerial urgings, no noticeable action against the errant workers has been taken.

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