[World Issues: Discrimination Against Indigenous People]

“They, indeed, are different. But how can they be recognized?”

What happened?

The world’s indigenous population is estimated at 370 million individuals living in more than 70 countries and made up of more than 5.000 distinct peoples. Although representing 5% of the world’s population, indigenous peoples account for 15% of the world’s poorest people.
Ever since the colonial era, oppression against indigenous people has often been practiced. As a result, this kind of practice has become a form of habit that most of us may think that it is such a normal thing where in fact, it isn’t. This condition, of course, is detrimental to the indigenous peoples whether it is regarding material or non-material terms. The types of discrimination that most often occur are unethical treatment of the community and the struggle for rights that should belong to all citizens. 

Oftentimes, indigenous peoples have their rights and assets taken away in the name of “state policies” without prior counseling or compensation. The negative impact of state development often seizes natural resources around the territory of indigenous peoples where these natural resources are usually the source of their livelihoods and for their survival.
Indigenous people feel alienated by their people in their own countries. Their basic rights include rights to land and territory, rights to cultural identity and beliefs, regulatory rights over local customs, and rights to self-care.

In Indonesia, indigenous peoples are communities that live based on their ancestral origins from generation to generation over an indigenous territory. They acquire sovereignty over lands, natural resources, and even socio-cultural life which are regulated by the customary law and institutions that manage the sustainability of their people’s lives.

According to Aliansi Masyarakat Adat Nusantara (AMAN), their members totaled 2359 indigenous communities throughout Indonesia, amounting to around 17 million individual members scattered throughout Indonesia. However, their existence is threatened in the midst of many attempts to plunder natural resources and change the function of forests that eliminate the rights of indigenous peoples. Until now, there are still many indigenous peoples who have been displaced from their own lands due to the expansion of mining lands or even large-scale oil palm plantations in Kalimantan and Sumatra. 

What are the causes?

In Asia, this issue is further complicated by the failure of national authorities to introduce or acknowledge the term and concept of “Indigenous” itself, which perceives the unique positions and distinctive rights of the people it describes. Instead, in many countries, the term native, tribal, ethnic minorities among others are still used in many laws, including those regulating lands and resources. This causes confusion and, in most cases, hinders Indigenous peoples from protecting and asserting their rights.

Indonesia, in 2016, Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (Komnasham) released a National Inquiry on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to Their Territories in Forest Areas showing the reality of violations of indigenous peoples’ rights accompanied by approaches of violence, intimidation, and even criminalization. Approximately 125 indigenous peoples have become victims of criminalization due to land conflicts in Bengkulu, South Sumatra, North Sumatra, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, West Nusa Tenggara, South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, and East Nusa Tenggara.

There are several conditions that could trigger friction between indigenous peoples and other matters. Some of these conditions are usually triggered by, let’s say, a person’s desire to enforce unilateral interests above what belongs to the indigenous peoples. For example, forced evictions. Besides that, massive global world development which demands the standard of “modern civilization” also often creates social conflicts because indigenous peoples usually hold fast to what has become the culture of their ancestors. This creates an image where indigenous peoples are just a second class society who are treated poorly.

Indigenous peoples face many challenges and their human rights are frequently violated: they are denied control over their own development based on their own values, needs, and priorities; they are politically under-represented and lack access to social and other services. They are often marginalized when it comes to projects affecting their lands and have been the victims of forced displacement as a result of ventures such as the exploitation of natural resources.

What kind of justice should be obtained?

Despite Indigenous movements’ decades-long struggles and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, discriminatory language introduced by colonialists is still commonly used by governments and mainstream societies. And, in some countries, even remains in legal texts.

One of the main components in creating a nation’s identity is by showing how the nation’s face looks. Indigenous peoples, as the oldest inhabitants of the area, should have the right to be recognized for their existence. After all, they are still cultured human beings. They could also be considered as a component of modern civilization in addition to how old the culture they inherited. They shouldn’t be mistreated. It would be unfair if the inheritance that was theirs ended up being forcibly confiscated whether by expelling, no counseling beforehand or worst like persecution. Indigenous people also have the right to be protected just like citizens in general.

President Joko Widodo has tried to protect the rights of indigenous peoples with various good initiatives, such as recognizing communal or collective land access rights when inviting a number of indigenous peoples to Istana Negara to gain access to natural resource rights. He, also, has scheduled the ratification of Rancangan Undang-Undang (RUU) of Indigenous Peoples. The law, which regulates the recognition, protection, and fulfillment of the rights of indigenous peoples has been included in Program Legislasi Nasional (Prolegnas) twice under President Jokowi’s leadership. However, it has yet to be passed.

And for us, what can we do?

“… all human beings, irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom and dignity, of economic security and equal opportunity… ”

Declaration of Philadelphia, 1944

As a part of the Agent of Change, we certainly do have a lot of activities that can be used to fight for the rights of indigenous peoples. Here are some activities that we can do:

1. Learn about the culture
   A lot of world heritage is lost because no one seems to want to inherit it. By learning about cultures, we are taking part in preserving said cultures.
2. Create petitions, make donations
   In order to stop any mistreatment to indigenous peoples, we have to fight for their rights. This includes collaborating with social institutions, NGOs, even influencers to make donations and petitions.
3. Arrange judicial review
   We surely do acknowledge that the laws that are currently being practiced or are still being drafted sometimes have flaws that are detrimental to indigenous peoples. By this, it is highly recommended to submit to the constitutional court to conduct a review of the law.
4. Voice out!
   Make indigenous peoples getting more recognition by doing creative things such as giving them a chance to be featured in entertainment media. Music and movies can bring a lot of impacts since they’re getting a lot of exposure from the people across the world. This will give indigenous people a chance for their existence to be recognized.

Writers: Aisyah Putri Ramadhania, Selly