The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) expresses its solidarity with the Higaonon people’s plight against militarization of their community. We also condemn the acts of State security forces in the Philippines that have forced the Higaonon peoples to move out of their homes and ancestral lands for fear of their lives.

This is not the first time the Higaonons have had to flee their homes in Barangay Banglay, Lagonglong town in Misamis Oriental province. The Philippine military also harassed the Higaonons of Lagonglong on the months of May, July and October 2015. The Higaonons were also forced to evacuate their homes and lands during those times for fear of further harassment and intimidation by state security forces.

The Higaonons of Lagonglong were once more forced to flee their homes on June 5, 2016 when members of the Philippine Army camped within their communities, forcibly entered their homes even when the homeowners denied them permission, and continuously asked them to turn over their arms despite the Higaonon’s denial of having any in their homes. State security forces have been pressing the Higaonons to accept the government’s so-called “peace and development” program even when the Higaonon’s have repeatedly refused to have anything to do with the government’s state security plan. The military also did not respect the verbal agreement made between the group’s leaders and the Philippine Army wherein state security forces had to ask permission from the Higaonons before entering their territory.

These acts by the Philippine military are in clear violation of the indigenous peoples rights to self-determination and development. We join the HIgaonon peoples’ call on the Philippine government and its security forces to:

Immediately pull out their forces encamped in the Higaonon lands in Brgy. Banglay, Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental, Philippines;
Cease further militarization, entering without consent, and putting up of detachments in Lumad communities;
Pull out all military troops staioned or encamped in indigenous lands;
Stop the recruitment of indigenoous peoples in paramilitary groups;
Facilitate the return of thousands of Lumad evacuees to their ancestral domains without fear of reprisal;
Investigate cases of violations of indigenous peoples rights by state security forces;
Prosecute those responsible for violations of indigenous people’s rights.

We also urge the Philippine government to support the Higaonons in their evacuation camps until they are safely back in their homes. We encourage all indigenous peoples and human rights advocates to support the call of the Higaonons to return to their homes without fear of militarization.###

End Militarization! Fight Back!

Reference:
Ms. Beverly Longid
IPMSDL Global Coordinator

AIPNEE is a member-network of IPMSDL

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) denounces the attacks against the Indigenous Bunong community in Kbal Romeas, Stung Treng, Cambodia due to the initiation of the Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Dam, an $816 million megadam project.

Kbal Romeas is now in the verge of being submerged with the dam’s operation set to begin in 25 Sept. 2017. By the time of the dam’s inauguration, the 58 Bunong families of Kbal Romeas are already submerged in water. Also to be affected are 124 families from the Sre Kor village, with Lao people in residence. The government and company have dismantled the Sre Pok bridge that connects Kbal Romeas to the rest of Stung Treng without consulting the community.

Indigenous communities have been protesting against the dam project because their lands will be destroyed – their cultural identity, sacred sites, ancestral graves, and traditions included – when the dam is fully operational. Instead of heeding the call and demand of the community, the government has threatened and harassed the village toward their forced eviction from the remained of their ancestral land. It deployed around 200 armed forces to quell protesters when the removal of the bridge took place.

Authorities are forcing them to move to the nearby Sreveng relocation site, which was designated without any consultation nor consideration of their living. The Bunong and Lao communities refuse to move to the transfer site primarily because it only offers agro-industry labor as livelihood – a far cry from the self-sustaining farming and fishing that they have been dependent of for hundreds of years.

The Cambodia government and Hydro Power Lower Sesan 2 Co. Ltd. claim that the dam will stabilize country’s power supply and lessen the country’s energy importation, decreasing electricity rates. In truth, however, this is state sponsorship of private interests. We question the “benefit” posed by the proponents because such public-private partnerships especially in developing countries take advantage of the consuming public in the name of profit.

Indigenous communities are already suffering from state neglect. Healthcare, education, infrastructure development, and other social services have been absent in recent years to compel desertion from their ancestral lands. The harassment and state neglect they experience toward their forced eviction, is clearly an outright violation of their indigenous rights over their lands, resources, and territories.

AIPNEE supports the Bunong people’s refusal of the compensation offered and the struggle against their displacement. We support Indigenous Peoples’ assertion of their rights to land and life. Development projects should never be undertaken at the expense of destroying ancestral domains and the indigenous people they sustain. The Bunong people have spoken: their right to self-determination must prevail.

OPPOSE THE LOWER SESAN 2 HYDROPOWER DAM!

STOP THE FORCED EVICTION OF THE INDIGENOUS BUNONG PEOPLE!

PROTECT THE STUNG TRENG ANCESTRAL LANDS!

STOP THE HARASSMENT AND RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!

RESPECT THE RIGHT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO LANDS AND TERRITORIES!

Reference: Beverly Longid, Secretariat Coordinator, aipnee.org@gmail.com

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) salutes all Indigenous Peoples of the world this International Day of the World’s Indigenous People! The victories from our sustained struggles against extractive and energy projects are testament to our growing strength in this crusade.

AIPNEE honors the Indigenous Peoples who courageously fought and won in their respective battles confronted. The Kauku of North Sulawesi, Indonesia triumphed against Mikgro Metal Premium (MMP) after government revoked its license to mine ore in their Bangka Island (1). The Dayak of Sarawak, Malaysia also scored victory after the government withdrew the construction of the Baram Dam megaproject that would have displaced 25,000 (2). We must take encouragement from these few noted examples.

In stressing the accomplishments, we highlight our collective struggle to thwart the continuing attacks against our people. This we have to foster, as the threats to our lands and rights remain.

We face massive displacement as governments and corporations continue to grab our ancestral lands and territories to loot its natural resources. They massacre our forests and rivers, the soul of our civilization, in exchange of the profit they will earn. Government policies and programs that claim to bring prosperity, yet generate maldevelopment of our people. Militarization has become the norm in many IP communities, with rampant and grave human rights violations documented as armed forces are used to pacify us.

Surrender is never an option. In such trying times, we should match the heightening plunder and political repression with our intensified struggles and greater solidarity.

AIPNEE calls all Indigenous Peoples to boost the arousal, organization, and mobilization of manpower and support for our advocacies and campaigns. This day challenges us to level up our efforts and make daring decisions, putting trust on our collective strength above anything else. We must extend ourselves and reach out to other IP and multi-sectoral formations in Asia and the world to be able to topple down systemic problems that cause our marginalization. As long as powers-that-be remain to dictate the standards of our society, the need for us to stalwartly assert for our inherent rights to self-determination and self-determined development endure.

Our power lies not just in our numbers, but more so in our resolve to fight for and defend our lands, rights, and territories!