The government must take immediate and comprehensive actions to solve the problems faced by the country's indigenous people, urged the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) today.

The commission made this call following the launch of its 91-page report entitled 'The Human Rights of Orang Asal (native communities)' at the Suhakam headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The report was launched by Suhakam vice chairperson Simon Sipaun and commissioner Asiah Abu Samah.

Speaking to the media later, Sipaun said the problems faced by these communities have existed for a long time and they must be resolved as soon as possible.

"These need to be settled immediately to assure the communities' basic human rights are protected and to enable them to enjoy the same degree of living as other Malaysians," he added.

Bumiputera status

Several key problems compiled in the report include land encroachment, land titles and the non-bumiputera status of Orang Asli - the indigenous people in the peninsula - under the Federal Constitution.

Suhakam called on the government to amend the Federal Constitution and accord bumiputera status to the Orang Asli because at present only the indigenous people in Sabah and Sarawak and the Malays are recognised as such.

Describing this as a "fair request", Asiah said the amendment should be done immediately to allow the Orang Asli people to enjoy the rights granted to those classified as bumiputera.

"Practically the government does not distinguish between them and the bumiputera but it is not in black and white and legally they are not covered," she added.

Suhakam said the amendment would ensure that the Orang Asli will also benefit from the affirmative actions such as education quotas and scholarships accorded to the bumiputera.

The commission noted that the dropout rate among students from native communities is 60 percent, particularly in remote areas and this is mainly due to financial difficulties.

Development projects

Another problem highlighted is the lack of consultation with the native communities regarding development projects on their land.

"This is because of the top-down approach by the authority where only the communities' leaders are invited to meet.

"This leads to the people failing to understand the good intension of the authority," said Sipaun, who added that another factor was that indigenous people don't hold any main positions in the relevant agencies such as the Orang Asli Affairs Department.

However, Suhakam called on the indigenous communities to be open to projects that could benefit them.

Asked whether the report will be tabled in Parliament, Sipaun said copies will be forwarded to the relevant agencies such as the Land and Mines Department and the Orang Asli Affairs Department. It will also be incorporated into the commission's annual report - due in April - which will be tabled in Parliament.

"Under the law, Suhakam is allowed to table certain reports to Parliament directly if necessary, but this report does not fall under that category," he explained.

According to him, the Orang Asli population is 95,000 while there are 1.7 million and 865,000 indigenous people in Sarawak and Sabah respectively.

This Suhakam report was published based on three workshops held by the commission over the last two years.