ID :
18861
Wed, 09/10/2008 - 21:35
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/18861
The shortlink copeid
SUHAKAM SUGGESTS GOVT WORK WITH NGOs TO DEVELOP INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 10 (Bernama) -- Malaysian Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) member Dr Denison Jayasooria believes that the state and federal government should work together with the various Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) for the betterment of the diverse indigenous peoples in the country.
Denison who opened a four-day national workshop on the issue here
Wednesday,
told reporters that the various NGOs handling this had very close network with
the indigenous tribes in East and Peninsular Malaysia as well as many other
international organisations.
"The forest people or indigenous people in Sabah, Sarawak and Orang Asli in
Peninsular Malaysia are the final frontier in the eradication of poverty. I
believe the state and federal government should revise or review some
legislations that affect their rights as well.
"Especially with Malaysia's agreement on the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN-DRIP), we should look into this matter
especially when it comes to their land rights," said Denison.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Indigenous People Network Chair, Adrian Lasimbang said
that the workshop would study in detail Malaysia's legislations regarding the
rights of indigenous people.
"Throughout the workshop our legal experts will study legislation
concerning indigenous peoples' rights and benchmark it against UN-DRIP. Once
everything is complete we will deliver a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
this Saturday at Istana Negara.
"We will have a march of around 100 people and we've already informed the
police and gave assurances that there is nothing political about this. It's just
that the date coincides with the first anniversary of UN-DRIP," said
Adrian.
He then added that copies of the memorandum would also be delivered to the
Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Natural Resources and Environment Minister as
well as Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister.
In other developments, N. Siva Subramaniam, another member of Suhakam, said
the case of M. Rajeshvari higlighted in the press in the last couple of days
should be reminder to Malaysians the importance of carrying their
identification cards wherever they went.
The 22-year-old mother of a boy had to spend some 10 months in detention
after she was mistaken for a foreigner when she could not produce her MyKad
identification document required of all Malaysians above the age of 12.
-- BERNAMA
Denison who opened a four-day national workshop on the issue here
Wednesday,
told reporters that the various NGOs handling this had very close network with
the indigenous tribes in East and Peninsular Malaysia as well as many other
international organisations.
"The forest people or indigenous people in Sabah, Sarawak and Orang Asli in
Peninsular Malaysia are the final frontier in the eradication of poverty. I
believe the state and federal government should revise or review some
legislations that affect their rights as well.
"Especially with Malaysia's agreement on the United Nations Declaration on
the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN-DRIP), we should look into this matter
especially when it comes to their land rights," said Denison.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Indigenous People Network Chair, Adrian Lasimbang said
that the workshop would study in detail Malaysia's legislations regarding the
rights of indigenous people.
"Throughout the workshop our legal experts will study legislation
concerning indigenous peoples' rights and benchmark it against UN-DRIP. Once
everything is complete we will deliver a memorandum to the Yang di-Pertuan Agong
this Saturday at Istana Negara.
"We will have a march of around 100 people and we've already informed the
police and gave assurances that there is nothing political about this. It's just
that the date coincides with the first anniversary of UN-DRIP," said
Adrian.
He then added that copies of the memorandum would also be delivered to the
Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, Natural Resources and Environment Minister as
well as Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister.
In other developments, N. Siva Subramaniam, another member of Suhakam, said
the case of M. Rajeshvari higlighted in the press in the last couple of days
should be reminder to Malaysians the importance of carrying their
identification cards wherever they went.
The 22-year-old mother of a boy had to spend some 10 months in detention
after she was mistaken for a foreigner when she could not produce her MyKad
identification document required of all Malaysians above the age of 12.
-- BERNAMA
