Malaysia: Information on government treatment of indigenous people in Sarawak
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1995 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | MYS19788.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Malaysia: Information on government treatment of indigenous people in Sarawak, 1 February 1995, MYS19788.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac9650.html [accessed 31 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
In a telephone interview, a professor of development studies specializing in Malaysia at Carleton University in Ottawa provided the following information on government treatment of indigenous people in Sarawak (22 February 1995).
According to the professor, the indigenous people represent a near majority of the population in Sarawak, however, they have not been able to translate their numbers into proportional political power in the state legislature. According to the professor, the indigenous people are not politically oppressed (ibid.). For a contrasting perspective, please consult the attachment by Marcus Colchester. There is no indigenous separatist movement in Sarawak, the professor said.
The federal government is responsible for indigenous people through the department of aboriginal affairs. This department acts as protector and provider of services, such as education and health services; control of land is a state responsibility (ibid.).
The government of Sarawak controls land use and is responsible for the distribution of logging concessions, a process affected by practices of patronage (ibid.). Aboriginal groups have received very few, if any, land allocations or export licenses (ibid.). The professor was of the opinion that the various competitors for logging concessions would not want to see indigenous people become players in what is a lucrative activity for business and the state government (ibid.). In the conflict between indigenous groups and logging operations, the Malaysian government has deported foreigners whom it claims incite the indigenous groups to oppose the forest industry (ibid.).
The professor explained that government treatment of indigenous people is complicated by a debate over whether the indigenous people's way of life should or should not be transformed through modern development. On one hand it is argued that indigenous culture should be protected, while others contend that the standard of living be improved through development (ibid.).
The federal government attitude to the indigenous people vary across departments, the professor said. The aboriginal affairs department is ambivalent, the prime minster's economic planning unit urges transformative development. Indigenous people are also affected by the land use policies of the state government which favours economic development (ibid.).
In 1992, Amnesty International reported an incident in which an indigenous person was arrested under the Emergency (Public Order and Prevention of Crime) Ordinance, 1969 for operating "an illegal society" (AI 6 Mar. 1992, 1); the alleged illegal society was the Sarawak Indigenous People's Alliance (ibid.). For additional information, please consult the attachment.
For additional information on government treatment of indigenous people in Sarawak, please consult the attachments and Response to Information Request MYS19789.E of 23 February 1995.
This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.
References
Amnesty International. 6 March 1992. Urgent Action: Malaysia: Anderson Mutang Urud (Andy Mutang). (AI Index: ASA28/06/92). London: Amnesty International.
Professor of Development Studies specializing in Malaysia, Carleton University, Ottawa. 22 February 1995. Telephone interview.
Attachments
Amnesty International. 6 March 1992. Urgent Action: Malaysia: Anderson Mutang Urud (Andy Mutang). (AI Index: ASA28/06/92). London: Amnesty International.
_____. 13 February 1992. Urgent Action: Malaysia: Anderson Mutang Urud (Andy Mutang). (AI Index: ASA28/03/92). London: Amnesty International.
Asiaweek. 10 November 1993. "Malaysia: Seeking Power for Vision 2020."
_____. 26 July 1993. "Disputes: Trouble in Paradise."
The Borneo Bulletin. 9 January 1988. Thomas Sim. "State Presses Ahead Plans to Settle Natives," p. 8.
Colchester, Marcus. 1989. Pirates, Squatters and Poachers: The Political Ecology of Dispossession of the Native Peoples of Sarawak. London: Survival International, pp. 8-12; 18-47.
Cultural Survival Quarterly. Summer/Fall 1994. Justine Hanson and Marchell Wesaw. "Government Intimidation in Malaysia," p. 10.
Davis, Wade. 1993. "Death of a People: Logging in the Penan Homeland." State of the Peoples A Global Human Rights Report on Societies in Danger. Boston: Beacon Press.
Far Eastern Economic Review. 21 April 1994. Doug Tsuruoka. "Blowguns and Canned Food."
_____. 27 August 1992. Doug Tsuruoka. "Malaysia: The Pen and the Saw," pp. 8-9.
Financial Times. 24 August 1990. Lim Siong Hoon. "Malaysia 4; Tension Rises in the Jungles - Profile; Sarawak." (NEXIS)
Indigenous Affairs. August/September 1994. Raymond Abin. "Sarawak."
The Toronto Star. 12 January 1994. Final Edition. John Vidal. "How One Tribe Resists Civilization's Glitter Malaysia Insists the Penan Progress. Only on our Terms, They Reply." (NEXIS)
