On October 20, 2022, Jeffrey Nang, the head of the people of Rome Jeffrey in Malaysia, went to a societal meeting and was delivered by a government official in Sarawak, a state on the island of Borneo in Malaysia. The letter was a notice of evacuation to Nang and 60 -year -old members from Rumah Jeffrey, who are members of the broader IBAN people in Borneo.
The official notification said that their forests within 30 days, or are concerned with risk against anyone who remained.
The message was awarded six days ago. The watch had already started to put a mark.
The notification claimed that Rome Jeffrey was violating the law by living inside a “protected forest”. They had less than a month to destroy all their crops, destroy their long wives, remove all their possessions, and go out.
But although the evacuation notification was martyred as a “protected” area, Nang knew that there was more for the story. Five months ago, Nang received a visit from an official from a company named Zedtee SDN BHD, a subsidiary of a registration company called Shin Yang Group. According to Nang, the company official told him that they need some of their wood forests. Sarawak Wood is often imported to countries like the United States, Japan and South Korea, where they are sold as furniture, floors and burned wooden fuel.
Nang said he had not reached an agreement with Zedtee on the forest or any possible transfer or payment. Instead, nearly three years ago, his people were in confrontation with the authorities, as they resist the evacuation imposed without their approval or compensation.
This is according to a A new investigation was published last week Through Human Rights Watch, which concludes that the Rome Jeffrey community is incorrectly expelled, in violation of the laws of Malaysia, as well as a violation of their international rights as original peoples to agree to projects extracted on their lands.
Various studies have shown that the removal of forests is a major contributor to climate change, which leads to less precipitation, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and warmer temperatures. Research also indicates that the protection of original land rights helps Both saves the forests and Protection of biological diversity. But despite the world Observations to stop the removal of forestsThe problem It is still getting worse.
Luciana Telese Chavez, a prominent researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the experience of Rome Jeffrey reflects a wider problem of the rights of the indigenous population in the region. There are relatively few legal protection for the original peoples in Sarawak compared to the governments of other states, but their investigations found that even a few legal protection, such as companies’ requirements for a certificate, have not been fulfilled.
She said: “There is a feeling that a lot of removal of forests that occur in Sarawak is legal just because the law is very lenient for this type of activity.” “What we are trying to show is that even the modest protection of the original lands is not respected and this is an example.”
Chavez said that the indigenous peoples who want to stay on their soil should prove their presence through a specific air scan for the colonial era. But the same survey is classified.
“This is just ridiculous,” she said. “It is very difficult for societies to defend their rights because all this critical environmental information is secret.”
Chavez said that Human Rights Watch worked with university researchers to access the survey data and prove that even according to this arbitrary standard, Rome Jeffrey has land claims.
Zedee nor the SHIN YANG group of messages seeking to comment. The Ministry of Sarawak Forestry did not respond to the inquiries, but said in a letter to Human Rights Watch that it is committed to the best practices in the forest management.
The agency said: “The Sarawak government is still committed to the sustainable forest administration through the policy of forest management certificate and best forest management practices,” the agency said. “This commitment applies to both natural and cultivated forests, ensuring commitment to strict standards and best practices.”
Although the approval of the people of Rumah Jeffrey, Zedtee began removing trees from the forest, Human Rights Watch found. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Maryland and Global Forest Watch estimated that the subsequent registration has removed nearly eight hectares of forests, or the size of nearly 20 American soccer fields.
Nicolas Al -Majdaf is the Secretary -General of Sarawak Dayak Eiban Association,, A community group representing the original IBAN societies like Rumah Jeffrey in Sarawak. Al -Majaz said that there are hundreds of issues dealing with land disputes in Sarawak because evacuations to make way for forest removal increasing more commonly.
He said: “This type of working style is very rampant in Sarawak.”
To date, the Rumah Jeffrey Community resists the evacuation. The village of about 60 people depends on the forest and the nearby river for fishing, fishing, gathering and growing foods. Away will force them to leave a cemetery where their ancestors and loved ones are buried, as well as a waterfall they consider sacred.
Al -Majaz said: “The land is very important for the livelihoods of the Eiban people in Sarawak.”
Human Rights Watch investigators found that the Jeffrey people had no opportunity to present inputs in the evacuation process, and they did not have a way to cancel it.
The metaphors hope that the international community will help provide some hope. At the end of this year, the European Union is Establishing new regulations into effect This will allow companies to be fined due to the removal of forests on product supply lines that occurred after 2020, whether technically or not. Chavez says the law is a “changing games”, and it can pressure Sarawak and the Malaysian government on a wider respect for the rights of the indigenous population to protect the profitable export industry.
Ideally, Chavez of the Sarawak government wants to cancel the evacuation notice. Human Rights Watch also called on countries like the United States and Japan to enforce existing laws against the import of wood that fell by removing illegal forests or human rights violations. Finally, Chavez hopes that Sarawak will adopt a tougher legal criteria to protect societies such as Rumah Jeffrey.
She said: “The Sarawak legal system is incredibly discrimination against the indigenous peoples.” Local laws are not equally with international standards with the rights of indigenous peoples and really facilitate the allocation of original lands. “
