A foreign NGO has demanded the resignation of the Malaysian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom for his dismissive remarks on the Penan struggle for their native rights.

Swiss-based Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) took issue with the high commissioner Zakaria Sulong’s comments in an interview with Borneo Post published yesterday, that called the Penan issue “petty”.

“In an interview with the Borneo Post, a newspaper owned by the Sarawak timber conglomerate KTS group, the diplomat compared the Penan community’s struggle for their native rights to other ‘petty issues’ such as ‘animals in zoos;,” said BMF in a statement today.

Zakaria had told the Sarawak daily, “What we do is collect reports on all the good and bad things written or said about the country and send them back to Malaysia.

“Issues range from politics to petty issues like animals in zoos and the Penans in Sarawak.”

Zakaria also alleged that NGOs in the UK who championed Sarawak issues had “hidden and personal agendas”.

BMF responded to the remark saying, “How can this man claim to be representing Malaysia in the United Kingdom if he compares (the plight of) his own people to zoo animals?.”

“We are calling on the Malaysian foreign minister to replace Zakaria Sulong with immediate effect as he is obviously unfit for the post of high commissioner to the UK,” it added.

BMF actively lobbies for protection of Sarawak’s environment and native communities, and against Sarawak chief minister Abdul Taib Mahmud

“Research by the Bruno Manser Fund has shown that the Taib family is holding stakes in more than 400 companies in 25 countries and offshore destinations, worth several billion US dollars.

“In a letter to the Malaysian attorney-general, BMF had called for Malaysian authorities to arrest and prosecute Taib for corruption, abuse of public office and other charges,” it added.