November 7, 2006
The longhouse, farmlands, and protected forest of an Iban Dayak community of Rumah Nyawin, bordering the Similajau Forest Reserve, Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysia have been saved, at least for now!
The community was threatened with a 30-day eviction notice on October 4, 2006. After a month of intensive community organizing, filing a court case, and an international petition for their land rights, the Sarawak government has agreed to go through the court process before attempting to evict by force.
This 11-door longhouse of 120 people has occupied an area of 333 hectares for the past twenty years, practicing their traditional culture, farming, hunting, fishing and gathering forest products.
Their lands are also home to a great diversity of lowland rainforest wildlife, including hornbills, macaques, bears, pangolin, tortoise, civets, flying squirells, flying lemurs, mouse deer, wild boar, fishing eagles, owls, and much more.
On October 4, they were issued an eviction letter from the gvernment of Sarawak, which meant to destroy their longhouse,farms, orchards and community forests to make way for a development complex for the Malaysia Research and Development Institute (MARDI).
Borneo Project and Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA) spent several days interviewing community representatives in mid October. Together we put together an international petition (see below), and organized the details for a strong case to prevent eviction and destruction of their lands. The community is now working with Native Customary Rights lawyers to bring the Land and Survey Department to court.
On November 6, 2006, the community was anxious that they would face the guns, bulldozers and chainsaws of the police and military. They were prepared to go to jail, but were not prepared to lose their home, their crops, orchards, and protected forest.
When no enforcement officers arrived that morning, representatives immediately travelled to Bintulu to find out if their organizing had indeed succeeded. They were told that yes, the Bintulu Land and Survey department would leave it up to their superiors in Kuching to decide the next steps, which will likely be through the courts. As court cases often take many years, the community looks forward to staying on their land for the near future, and hopefully in perpetuity.
Below is the text of the international petition sent on November 1, 2006:
To: Mr. Rozlan Bin Haji Putit
Superintendent of Land and Survey Department, Bintulu
Bangunan BDA No. 1
Jl. Tanjung Kidurong 97000
Bintulu, Sarawak, Malaysai
Email: landsurvey@sarawaknet.gov.my
Tel. 086-318255
Fax: 086-331159
CC: Chief Minister of Sarawak
Malaysia Research and Development Institute (MARDI)
Dear Mr. Superintendent,
We wish to request your reply to an urgent matter of indigenous land
rights, namely the threatened eviction of the Iban community of Rumah
Nyawin, at Mile 32 on the Bintulu-Bakun Road, Bintulu, Sarawak, as
described by an article in the Borneo Post on 6 October 2006.
We understand that your department has issued a 30 day eviction notice
to this community as of 4 October, 2006.
We are encouraged to learn that holder of the land title, the
Malaysian Research and Development Institute (MARDI) has stated as
recently as October 19, 2006 that it does not need or wish to encroach
on the native customary rights (NCR) land of the community of Rumah
Nyawin, and it has not called for their eviction.
This NCR land of Rumah Nyawin is roughly 334 hectares, as documented
in their community map, produced in cooperation with an experienced
surveyor, and was submitted to your Department as well as MARDI in
2004.
We are also encouraged to note that Kidurong Member of Parliament Mr.
Chiew Chiu Sing has also declared his support with the longhouse
community, asking your Department to respect their native customary
rights.
Considering that Malaysia is a signatory to the Declaration on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples through the UN Human Rights Council as of
June 2006, it would be appropriate for the Bintulu Land and Survey
Department to implement the right to Free Prior Informed Consent by
indigenous people regarding all activities on their lands.
In this case, the indigenous occupants of the land have clearly not
consented to their eviction from their longhouse, farms (temuda) and
protected forests (pulau), as evidenced by the letter from Mr. Nyawin
Gawen to you on October 6, 2006.
Please clarify to us as soon as possible regarding your intentions for
the native customary lands and longhouse of Rumah Nyawin, prior to
their eviction deadline of 4 November 2006.
Your reply by email to Sarawak Dayak Iban Association at
sadiahq@gmail.com is appreciated.
Sincerely,
1. Sarawak Dayak Iban Association (SADIA)
2. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
3. Jaringan Orang Asal SeMalaysia (JOAS)
4. Center for Orang Asli Concerns, Malaysia (COAC)
5. Partners of Community Organizations, Sabah (PACOS)
6. Friends of Village Development, Sabah (TONIBUNG)
7. Aliran Kesedaran Negara
8. Save Ourselves (SOS)
9. Malaysian Voters Union (MALVU)
10. The Borneo Project, Berkeley, USA
11. Society for Threatened Peoples, Switzerland
12. Greenpeace Southeast Asia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines
13. Rainforest Action Network, San Francisco, USA
14. Ecological Internet, USA
15. Bruno Manser Foundation, Switzerland
16. Brende & Lamb Tree Care, Berkeley, USA:
17. Ruslina Idrus, Anthropology Department, Harvard University, USA
18. Dr. Rajindra K. Puri, Anthropology Department, University of Kent, UK
19. Dr. Diana Riboli, Dept. of Sociology, Panteio University, Athens, Greece
20. Dr. Leslie Sponsel, University of Hawaii, USA
21. Sita Venkateskwar, Social Anthropology Prog., Aotearoa, New Zealand
22. Margaret Lewman, California, USA
23. Judith Penelope,California, USA
24. Arwen Donahue, Kentucky, USA
25. Robert and Leta Dentan, New York, USA
26. Oysim Chin, New York, USA
27. Siew Eng Ooi, Malaysia
28. Elias Rotsos, USA
29. Dorothy Sojka, USA
30. Dee Baer, Oregon, USA
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