June 23, 2026
“Enough is enough. The Orang Asli
are being abused… and being bullied for decades. They had
enough!”
This message resonates the calls and
placards of the more than 1,500
Orang Asli from 19 Indigenous communities and
organizations across six states in Peninsular Malaysia who
marched in front of the Ministry of Rural and Regional
Development in the City of Putrajaya on June 12 to demand
ancestral land recognition, Indigenous Peoples rights
protection, and an end to decades of dispossession,
marginalization, and state neglect.
The mobilization
came after the demolition
of approximately 20 homes belonging to the Jakun
Indigenous community in Kampung Sungai Baru, Pekan, Pahang,
on May 4, 2026 done allegedly to make way for plantation
development. During the June 12 action, Orang Asli
representatives submitted
a memorandum calling on the government to stop these
demolitions.
The Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self
Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) stands in solidarity
with the mobilization and collective action by Orang Asli
communities reflecting the anger and determination to
confront the continuing theft of their lands and resources
in the name of “development.”
Advertisement – scroll to continue reading
For generations,
Orang Asli communities have faced non-recognition
of their customary lands (tanah adat) resulting in
massive logging, destructive mining, plantation expansion,
infrastructure projects, and other commercial interests by
state authorities. Despite longstanding demands and
legal precedents affirming Indigenous customary rights,
state governments continue to treat Indigenous territories
as state land available for exploitation and
profit.
Indigenous organizations have also repeatedly
raised concerns over the destruction of forests and rivers
through commercial logging, mining, and plantation projects
approved without
free, prior and informed consent.
Widespread
dissatisfaction with the Department of Orang Asli
Development (JAKOA/ Jabatan Kemajuan Orang Asli), which
communities accused of failing
to defend Orang Asli rights and interests. Organizations
and communities called out Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid
Hamidi, who oversees the JAKOA, with different calls from
convening a consultation session with Orang Asli up to
demanding his resignation. Rather than serving as an
institution for Indigenous welfare and self-determination,
JAKOA has increasingly been viewed by affected communities
as facilitating
state policies and commercial projects that enable the
continued dispossession of Indigenous
lands.
“The Orang Asli are sending a powerful
message to the Malaysian government and politically
connected elites. This also builds to our broader fight
against a global system of extraction and profit that
continues to treat Indigenous territories as commercialized
assets and sources of profit for both local and foreign
elites,” Beverly Longid, IPMSDL Co-convener
said.
Malaysia’s forests have long supplied timber
to international markets, including countries in the United
States, China, Japan, Singapore and India. Approximately
84% of Malaysia’s Rare Earth Elements (REE), which can
mostly be found in forest reserves and Orang Asli
communities, are exported
illegally. Meanwhile, palm oil plantations that expand
into customary lands feed global supply chains serving major
markets in China,
India, Pakistan, Europe, and the Middle
East.
While Orang Asli communities bear the costs
of forced displacement and ecological destruction, the
profits flow upward to large corporations, politically
connected concession holders, international financial
institutions, foreign capital, and international commodity
markets.
“The continued land dispossession and
demolition of Indigenous Peoples reveals the enduring
colonial and imperialist character of “development
model” imposed on us. This is not development. This is
exploitation,” Longid emphasized.
For IPMSDL,
genuine development must be rooted in upholding Indigenous
Peoples’ right to self-determination including the right
to determine the development path beneficial to their lands,
communities and wider society. From 1,5000, “we expect
bigger waves to hundreds of thousands of Indigenous Peoples
in the streets as long as Orang Asli face systemic injustice
and violations of their rights,” she ended.
IPMSDL
joins the calls on:
• The Malaysian government to
immediately recognize and protect Orang Asli customary lands
and territories;
• State authorities to halt all
demolitions, evictions, logging, mining, plantation, and
development projects imposed without Indigenous
consent;
• JAKOA to be held accountable for its failure
to protect Orang Asli rights;
• International human
rights organizations and Indigenous Peoples’ movements to
monitor the situation and support Orang Asli
communities.
Defend Tanah Adat!
Resist
Imperialist Plunder!
Long Live Indigenous Peoples’
Struggles for Self-Determination and
Liberation!
