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!
