Malaysia-after Indonesia-is the second largest global producer of palm oil. (1) A multi-billion dollar empire based on land robbery(land grabbing), fires and deforestation, monocultures overrun with neurotoxic pesticides, and slavery, including child slavery. The first victims of these abominations, as in any colonial rule, are the defenseless local communities. Indigenous, aboriginal people. Buycott!
Orang Asli, aboriginals exploited for palm ‘good image’
The Orang Asli (literally, ‘original peoples’ or ‘first peoples’) are the indigenous minorities of Peninsular Malaysia. 18 ethnic subgroups officially recognized by the Kingdom of Malaysia, have their own cultures, lifestyles and idioms. The Orang Laut, Orang Seletar and Mah Meri, for example, make their living from fishing near the coast. Instead, the Temuan, Jakun and Semai were ‘converted’ to cultivating ‘colonials’-palm, rubber and cocoa-in small plots of land. (2)
To construct the fable of the – increasingly false – sustainability of the palm supply chain, the palmocrats exploit precisely one of the most populous tribes among the Orang Asli, the Temiar. The website ‘Palm Oil Health,’ even reports that ‘to protect the environment, each family was offered seven acres [2.8 hectares, ed.] Of land to grow oil palm or rubber. Most households chose oil palm because it can generate high and stable income […]’.
Between the lines of this compelling narrative is also recall-apodictic and link-free-to a study where it would explain why the ‘beneficiaries’ of this program were forbidden to maintain ancestral traditions based on the use of bamboo, edible grasses and durian (a local fruit). The ban would be motivated by unlikely ‘environmental damage’ caused by wild grasses and native crops (?). More likely, these are considered pests to be eradicated to prevent them from taking water and resources away from the palm tree. Which, it should be remembered, was brought to Malaysia by British settlers in the late 1800s. Colonialism is renewed.
Orang Asli, the destruction of ancestral domains
Some of the indigenous communities spared from ‘conversion’ programs to ‘colonials’-such as the Jahai and Batek-are semi-nomadic peoples who still try to rely on interaction with nature for their livelihoods. (2) Except being forced to give up their traditions and cultures because of the devastation of their ancestral domains. Huge expanses of virgin forest razed to make way for palm monoculture.
‘We are only janitors of the forest and we cannot take more than we need. We regard it as our home. It is very valuable, you cannot buy it with money.’ So declared Hamdan Keladi, a Batek chief in Gua Musang district about 500 km (310 miles) northeast of Kuala Lumpur. In 2009, when the threats suffered by the Batek people first garnered public attention.
As early as 2005, the FAO Global Forest Resources Assessment report highlighted the ‘step change’ in deforestation in Malaysia, which had nearly doubled in just a few years (from 78,000 hectares/year in 1990-2000 to 140,000 between 2000 and 2005). Highlighting how the impact of deforestation and desertification could have forced 50 million individuals to migrate. (3) ‘Economic migration’ in the dialectic of Nutellatestimonial Matteo Salvini.
‘I see forests being cut down with such greed and without control. If the earth is barren, there are no more sources of life. Our traditions will die‘. (4) It is worth hearing these words live, from the young member of the Batek community who speaks them in the video ‘The curse of palm oil,’ quoted in the introduction. The devastation of nature and biodiversity, the poisoning of watersheds with agrotoxics abused in palm cultivation are eradicating hundreds of thousands of individuals belonging to indigenous communities from their habitats. Thus, their idioms, traditions and cultures are going to be permanently dispersed.
Orang Asli, the land robbery
Several state governments in Malaysia base their economies on (irresponsible) forest management. Having the constitutional power to decide every land-related issue, they grant public and private entities licenses to log, divert waterways and build dams, plant oil palm monocultures. Completely neglecting the presence of indigenous communities.
‘The forest is not a factory. States need to think about the future.’ (Jerald Joseph, Suhakam, national human rights body). (5)
The land robbery of the Orang Asli is systematic, as highlighted in the 2018 report of Suhakam, the human rights body. Indigenous communities sometimes try to file appeals, hoping that some authority will listen to them and find a solution to the reported problems. But the bulldozers go ahead and destroy their settlements such as tribal cemeteries, as well as the primary forest that will never return.
Buycott! Palm oil, GMO soy, and American meats.
60 million tons of palm oil are consumed globally each year. +400% in the last 20 years. And the real price of palm is this, land robbery, deforestation and burning. International crimes against humanity and ecocide. Stopping the demand for this bloody commodity is the responsibility of all of us.
The Buycott petition-which we urge everyone to sign and promote by following this link-is worth raising everyone’s awareness toward the need to stop the globalization of exploitation of people and ecosystems. Palm oil, GMO soy and American meats, #Enough! #NotInOurName!
Dario Dongo and Giulia Caddeo
Notes
(1) The Asian tiger produces 39 percent of its global output in its territory, plus the output of its giants in other countries. V. Vicktoriija Mickute (2018).
Palm oil threatens indigenous life in Malaysia
. Al Jazeera, 17.8.18,
(2) Center for Orang Asli Concern, Colin Nicholas, 12.8.12 ,
(3) See footnote 1
(4)
Malaysia’s oldest nomads struggle to find a home
, Razak Ahmad
(5) See footnote 1
(6) Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (2018). Suhakam, Human Rights for all, Report 2018, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fvvmlSqXJ2ysTdhRrYnSws6Bwz6FQiaG/view
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Graduated in law, master in Food, Law & Finance. You have explored the theme of green procurement and urban food policies in the International Cooperation and Peace sector of the City of Turin.
