Indigenous World 2019: Malaysia
As of 2017, the indigenous peoples of Malaysia were estimated to account for around 13.8% of the national population of 31,660,700 million.1 They are collectively known as Orang Asal.
Malaysia
The peoples of the Orang Asli, Orang Ulu and Anak Negeri groups constitute the Indigenous population of Malaysia. While Malaysia adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the country's Indigenous population faces a number of challenges, especially in terms of land rights. Malaysia has not ratified ILO Convention 169.
The Orang Asli, the Orang Ulu and the Anak Negeri peoples
As of 2017, the Indigenous Peoples of Malaysia were estimated to account for around 13.8% of the 31,660,700 million national population.
They are collectively known as Orang Asal. The Orang Asli are the Indigenous Peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. The 18 Orang Asli subgroups within the Negrito (Semang), Senoi and Aboriginal-Malay groups account for 0.7% of the population of Peninsular Malaysia (31,950,000).
In Sarawak, the Indigenous Peoples are collectively known as natives (Dayak and/or Orang Ulu). They include the Iban, Bidayuh, Kenyah, Kayan, Kedayan, Lunbawang, Punan, Bisayah, Kelabit, Berawan, Kejaman, Ukit, Sekapan, Melanau and Penan. They constitute around 1,932,600 or 70.5% of Sarawak’s population of 2,707,600 people.
In Sabah, the 39 different Indigenous ethnic groups are known as natives or Anak Negeri and make up some 2,233,100 or 58.6% of Sabah’s population of 3,813,200. The main groups are the Dusun, Murut, Paitan and Bajau groups.
While the Malays are also Indigenous to Malaysia, they are not categorised as Indigenous Peoples because they constitute the majority and are politically, economically and socially dominant.
Main challenges for the Indigenous Peoples of Malaysia
In Sarawak and Sabah, laws introduced by the British during their colonial rule recognising the customary land rights and customary law of the Indigenous Peoples are still in place. However, they are not properly implemented, and are even outright ignored by the government, which gives priority to large-scale resource extraction and the plantations of private companies and state agencies over the rights and interests of the Indigenous communities.
In Peninsular Malaysia, while there is a clear lack of reference to Orang Asli customary land rights in the National Land Code, Orang Asli customary tenure is recognised under common law. The principal act that governs Orang Asli administration, including occupation of the land, is the Aboriginal Peoples Act 1954.
Malaysia has adopted the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) and endorsed the Outcome Document of the World Conference on Indigenous Peoples but has not ratified ILO Convention 169.
Malaysia: The High Court nullifies a case of land alienation in Sandakan
Sandakan, Malaysia - On January 8, 2015 The High Court nullified a case of land eviction of 500 acres at Kg Ansuan, Telupid, by the Lands and Surveys Department by declaring that the natives had not received a sufficient notice to claim customary rights under Section 13 of the Sabah Land Ordinance.
Malaysia: New report calls for respect of indigenous peoples right to withhold consent for dam
Fact-finding mission reports on fundamental human rights violations committed by Malaysian company Sarawak Energy at the proposed Baram Dam, while blockades of villagers against the dam reach day 300.
(KUALA LUMPUR / BARAM, MALAYSIA) - A newly released fact-finding report reveals systematic human rights violations are being committed against the indigenous peoples of Sarawak by the proponents of the proposed Baram Dam in Malaysia.
Malaysia: New project addresses violence against women
In honour of International Women’s Day, we would like to take the opportunity to highlight one of our partner projects, where indigenous women have taken the lead and confronted challenges facing their community. In 2013, IWGIA partnered with the Sabah Women Action Resource Group (SAWO) to address violence against women in the Northern Sabah region of Malaysia, and we have recently renewed the project.
“This is the first time that such a project is being undertaken in Sabah, a state that is one of the poorest in Malaysia and where the needs and rights of rural people, particularly women, are often ignored and overlooked by political leaders and government development agencies,” said Winnie Yee, project coordinator and SAWO president.
Malaysia: Chief Minister of Sabah attempts to discredit IWGIA partner
In an article in the Daily Express Malaysia from 13 November 2014 the Chief Minister of Sabah, Musa Aman, has made a statement that NGOs such as IWGIA’s partner the Partners of Community Organizations in Sabah (PACOS) are misleading and confusing natives to blame the government for not giving them land.
Danish news site focuses on indigenous peoples’ rights in Indonesia
The Danish news site on development, u-landsnyt.dk, brings an article about the ruling by Indonesia’s Constitutional Court, which recognises indigenous peoples’ customary forests. The article analyses the ruling and the potential it has to curb the country’s massive deforestation as well as the land dispossession and human rights abuses committed against indigenous peoples all over the archipelago.
