MALAYSIA: Orang Asli go to court to stake their land rights against National Park and palm oil plantation

Jakun-Orang Asli from Kg Peta and the Mersing area share alight moment while waiting for thier case to be called.

28 March 2012

Orang Asli groups of Mersing and Bera districts are in the court asserting their rights to their traditional and customary lands against forced evictions for Endau Rompin National Park in Mersing and oil palm plantation in Bera.

On 21 March, the Orang Asli of Kampung Peta, Mersing, Johor filed an application for leave to apply for judicial review at Johor Bahru High Court against Mersing District Land Administrator’s order to evict the them from their customary land encompassing the Endau Rompin National Park. 51 Orang Asli from Kampung Peta and the neighbouring villages of Tanah Abang, Punan, and Mentelong travelled all the way from the interior of northeast Johor to the state capital for the court matter.

UN Committee expresses concern about violence against Karen people in Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park

26 March 2012

GENEVA – UN Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination has expressed concern regarding forceful eviction and harassment of Karen indigenous people from Thailand’s Kaeng Krachan National Park and requested the government to provide information on their situation in the park.

The Committee sent a letter sent to the Permanent Mission of Thailand to the UN on 9 March 2012 in response to the information submitted by a non-governmental organization.

According to the information, the Committee writes, an increasing level of violence has been committed against the Karen people by the Thai National Park and Forestry Authorities despite existing laws protecting the rights of the Karen people to live in national parks and other forest areas. They point out that laws such as the Thai Cabinet Resolution of 3^rd August 2010 (on the restoration of traditional practices and livelihoods of Karen people) categorically provide them with the right to remain in ancestral lands and practise traditional agricultural rotation.

PHILIPPINES: IMPUNITY NO LET-UP | Another indigenous leader killed in San Fernando, Bukidnon, Philippines

Jimmy Liguyon, the vice chairperson of Kasilo, an organization of the Matigsalug-Manobo of Bukidnon, was shot dead in front of his home on Monday, March 5 by Aldy “Butsoy” Salusad, a leader of a paramilitary group in the province.

Liguyon is also the Barangay Captain of Dao, San Fernando, Bukidnon.  In October last year, he already received death threats from the group of Salusad.  Salusad is the son of Ben ‘Nonong’ Salusad, appointed head of the tribal arms of the San Fernando Matigsalug Tribal Datus (SANMATRIDA) which has a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title over 52,000 hectares in San Fernando, Bukidnon.  The SANMATRIDA Multi-purpose Cooperative, chaired by Herman P. Estrella, has been enticing mining investors into their domain since it was instituted in 2009.  The tribal datu of Barangay Dao under the SANMATRIDA is Aldy’s uncle, Datu ‘Manayab’ Carillo Salusad.

PHILIPPINES: Any new Executive Order on mining must affirm IPS rights over their ancestral domain

Published : Wednesday, March 07, 2012 Written by : Gualberto B. Lumauig

COMMENTARY

Former governor and congressman of Ifugao

As major players in the mining industry debate their respective social responsibilities in the exploitation of our country’s vast mineral resources, they should not lose sight of the rights and concerns of the indigenous people over their ancestral lands and domains.

We need a reaffirmation from our government and the mining industry stakeholders that our indigenous peoples’ occupation, possession and propriety rights over their ancestral domains are their exclusive birthright and privilege that should seriously be taken into account when government, through its licensing mandate, starts allowing developers and investors to encroach on these ancestral territories.

Philippines: Bangsamoro, Indigenous Peoples Of Mindanao To Re-Affirm Kinship Relations

Apipa P. Bagumbaran, 2012

A ritual to re-affirm the kinship between the Bangsamoro and the indigenous peoples (IPs) of Mindanao is slated to be held at the Talaandig Ancestral Territory in Sungko, Lantapan town, Bukidnon province on March 7 and 8.

The ceremony on the re-affirmation of kinship among the non-Islamized natives and the Bangsamoro of Mindanao is designed to help facilitate the peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

PHILIPPINES: ILO and Finnish embassy ink deal helping indigenous peoples

By Jovan Cerda (philstar.com) Updated February 29, 2012 02:12 PM

MANILA, Philippines – The International Labor Organization (ILO) and the Embassy of Finland in Manila signed an agreement last Monday to increase support to indigenous peoples in the Philippines, a statement released Wednesday noted.

The deal between Finnish Ambassador Heikki Hannikainen and Lawrence Jeff Johnson, director of the ILO country office for the Philippines, aims at responding to the needs of the T’boli and Ubo tribes in Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, ILO said.

Starting in 2000, ILO said the partnership built a community-based micro-enterprise in Palawan that processes wild honey, cashew nuts, rice and corn. Indigenous people involved in the enterprise also identified and implemented projects like water systems, agricultural development and food production.

“In Lake Sebu, South Cotabato, the T’boli tribe learned about their rights as indigenous peoples. Tribal houses were built to display and sell their products and to host traditional ceremonies, meetings and even as a place to settle conflicts and disputes,” ILO said.

PHILIPPINES: Appeals bars Department of Agrarian Reform eviction order

Thursday, February 23, 2012

THE Court of Appeals (CA) granted the November 17, 2006 petition filed by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) to prohibit the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) from further implementing the eviction order against the heirs of an indigenous tribe in Malalag, Davao del Sur.

In its 40-page decision promulgated on January 31, the CA in Cagayan de Oro City junked the writ of execution issued by DAR Adjudication Board on October 3, 2006 and the notice to vacate premises issued by DAR on October 30, 2006 for the 701.1459-hectare ancestral land of the heirs of Egayan-Gubayan clan.

This developed after the CA found out that the ancestral land of the heirs of Egalan-Gubayan clan of the Tagacaolo tribe was certified and declared to the IPs’ favor pursuant to Section 52 (i) of Indigenous Peoples Right Act (IPRA).

TAIWAN: Aboriginal activists urge ROC government to right wrongs of the past

• Publication Date：02/29/2012
• Source： Taiwan Today
• By  June Tsai

Aboriginal activists sent up smoke signals Feb. 28 in a symbolic action demanding that the government make amends for wrongful policies against indigenous peoples and create a new constitution that includes all who live in Taiwan.

“Ceremonies memorializing the February 28 Incident are used by Han Chinese members of society to monitor ROC government efforts toward transitional justice, but nothing has been done to redress the 300-year-long persecution of aborigines,” said a spokesman for the Smoke Signals League, organizer of the event.