21 May 2007
Press Release
Department of Public Information
News and Media Division
New York
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
HR/4922
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Sixth Session
10th & 11th Meetings (AM & PM)
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS OF ASIA’S NATIVE PEOPLE
INCREASINGLY VIOLATED,
SITUATION LONG NEGLECTED, UNITED NATIONS FORUM TOLD
Indigenous Urban Migration Trend Also Discussed; Speakers Say,
Regardless of Cause, Indigenous Face Substantial Difficulties
in Urban Settings
With increasing violations of the fundamental rights of native peoples in
Asia due to the militarization of ancestral lands and the imposition of
repressive national security, it was urgent that Asian Governments
recognize the region’s indigenous peoples for who they were: distinct
groups with their own unique cultures, but with inherent human rights to
be respected like all other citizens, a representative of the Asia Caucus
told the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues today.
She noted that several Asian Governments had sought a formal definition of
indigenous peoples and that, despite concern that creating a formal
definition could lead to discriminatory acts, she believed that legally
binding criteria for who could be regarded as “indigenous” peoples could
be agreed upon at the national level and within the context of a
Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
“It is of urgent concern that we move forward on this issue in order to
fully address the legitimate concerns of indigenous peoples in relation to
our collective rights, for the best interest of all stakeholders,
including States,” she told the Forum, which divided its work between
discussion of Asia in the morning and of urban issues in the afternoon.
Rounding out the issue of identification, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Special
Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of
indigenous peoples, said that the situation of Asia’s tribal and native
peoples -- counting in the millions, in all countries of the region -- had
long been neglected, and had only recently been the object of distinct
attention in international forums. The reasons for such historical neglect
could be found in any number of discriminatory provisions and legal
distinctions concerning indigenous people in the domestic norms and
polices of a number of countries.
MORE |
