Taiwan Indigenous Peoples against "Typhoon Morakot Post-disaster Recovery Regulation"
The August 8th floods seriously struck southern Taiwan. It devastated the indigenous tribes by taking our people’ lives away, demolishing our houses and lands, leaving our livelihood in dire circumstances. The crisis of future cultural inheritance is unprecedented.
Most of the disaster areas this time are the traditional territories of indigenous peoples. In the early days, many indigenous tribes were moved in cooperation with national policies or due to the social environment at that time. Some of them were moved because they were oppressed and then settled at where they live now. The essence of indigenous peoples’ peaceful coexistence with Nature is how they build up a great affection and close interactions with their land to develop their own cultural customs and meanings of life. However, led by inappropriate policies, the external syndicates collude with the government officials to abuse and destroy the land and leave the disastrous effect to the indigenous peoples. Now they even have to fear for cultural genocide brought by forced eviction. It is indeed another disaster and violation of the indigenous peoples’ collective rights to development. As the Would Council of Indigenous Peoples noted in 1985, “Next to shooting indigenous peoples, the surest way to kill us is to separate us from our part of the earth.”
According to Article 10 of the United Nation Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People,” indigenous peoples shall not be forcibly removed from their lands or territories.” In the past, locally and internationally the cases of hasty forced eviction of indigenous people were too many to enumerate. Far from the land, disconnected with our people, and with the collectivity of a cultural group denied, indigenous people could be push into an abyss of misery. Therefore, the indigenous peoples request to be included in the negotiation mechanism in the Post-disaster Recovery Regulation.
As indicated in Article 18 of the United Nation Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People “Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights.” Even it might take more time to pick a new site for relocation, only through transparent decision and public participation the indigenous peoples’ individual rights and collective rights can be protected.
Endorsed by:
Association of Taiwan Indigenous Peoples College
Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Non Governmental Organization Alliance
Taiwan Indigenous Peoples Tribal Recovery Alliance
The Association for Taiwan Indigenous Peoples' Policies
Southern Tribes Recovery Alliance
Taiwan Presbyterian Church’s Commission on Indigenous Peoples
Taiwan Association for Human Rights
