Borneo Resistance: Ibans Defy the Grasp of Palm Oil Barons

The Borneo Project

"[I]t is very undemocratic and an abuse of our most basic human rights for the Sarawak government to systematically force, harass, intimidate, suppress and sabotage us to accept the oil palm plantation on our customary land, which is the only source of our livelihood."

- June 30, 1997 letter from Iban men and women jailed for defending their land

Malaysia - For more than three decades, Borneo's indigenous peoples have relied on nonviolent protests and political organizing to protect their lands. In 1987, the international press gave wide coverage to these rainforest communities when they blockaded jungle roads to prevent the logging of their forests. Unfortunately, the ensuing international protest failed to slow the devastation of native lands. Now these communities face a new threat, even more pernicious than logging.

Recently, state-owned land development corporations - which, in some cases, have forged joint ventures with private investors - have announced plans to clearcut community rainforests and establish oil palm plantations. (Palm oil is commonly used for cooking and processing foods.)

Under an aggressive state plan, monoculture palm plantations are replacing managed forest gardens that have provided sustenance, building materials and medicine to native people for generations. The displaced locals are expected to abandon their heritage for uncertain and low-paying jobs with the oil palm corporations.

In spite of persistent harassment by plantation developers, imprisonment and brutality by police, members of Iban communities in the Baram and Tinjar regions are refusing to sign away their traditional land rights.

On April 17, police arrested nine Iban men for voicing opposition to the plantations. "The police did not inform us the reason(s) for our arrest except to say that we were required to attend a meeting with the company that was clearing our customary land," they wrote from prison. "However, instead of taking us to the meeting, we were brought to the Miri central police station."

Then, on June 25, police arrested 42 Iban men and women who had peacefully assembled to negotiate with officials who were surveying their land for a plantation.

In both cases, police admitted they lacked sufficient evidence to press criminal charges. In both cases the protesters were jailed without being formally charged. The court accepted a police recommendation, without inquiry, that the Ibans each sign a six-month, $1,200 bond to keep the peace as a prerequisite for their release. Refusing to admit that their protest was illegal, most rejected the bond and spent as much as 18 days in prison.

In addition to nonviolent protest, several Iban communities have gone to court to contest the state's power to extinguish their customary land rights. "We simply want the bulldozing to stop," says one Iban leader, "until the courts make their ruling."

Indigenous legal struggles, however, suffer from a lack of funds and insufficient legal aid since many lawyers are reluctant to get involved for fear of political reprisal. In response, Sarawak activists established the Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), a resource center that plans to provide legal training for indigenous communities. The project will train paralegal staff to defend native land rights and pursue civil and human rights cases, track pending cases and provide an institutional "home" for the handful of local lawyers willing to pursue native rights cases.

BRIMAS currently operates a community resource mapping project, which grew out of the overwhelming response to mapping workshops that Borneo Project volunteers conducted in mid-1995 [See "Mapping the Pathways to Survival," Fall '95 EIJ].

BRIMAS has trained numerous Dayak communities in basic land survey and map production techniques, bringing mapping skills to remote villages threatened by corporate encroachment. Village maps - documenting customary land claims - have already been used to settle minor land disputes and may provide definitive evidence in court cases.

Even with help from BRIMAS, the indigenous peoples of Malaysian Borneo are in for a long struggle. The choices they face are increasingly complex and will affect their communities for generations. Most indigenous people say they are not against development, but they demand the freedom to regulate it based on the values of their communities.

In a June 30 letter from prison to international supporters, 39 Ibans wrote: "[T]o us, it is a very painful choice. Either we make some sacrifices by fighting to protect our land now or we just let the plantation company take it away from us.

"[W]e now appeal to all of you to urgently protest and appeal to the Malaysian and Sarawak governments to leave our land alone. We know our voice and protest alone will just be swept under the carpet. This is the reason we make this urgent appeal to you."

What You Can Do: Send letters to Prime Minister Dato Seri Dr. Mahathir Bin Mohamed, Prime Minister's Department, Jalan Dato Onn, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Sarawak Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, Tingkat 14, Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Petra Jaya, 93502 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. For more information, contact the Borneo Project, 1916A Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley, CA 94703, (510)705-8987, borneo@igc.org.