Item 10

ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS
31 March, 2005

Oral statement by Ms. Tsering JAMPA, Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network

Mr. Chairperson,

Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network would like to draw attention of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights about the effects of the transmigration of people belonging to the majority communities on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights by those who require special protections.

The World Bank lucidly explains the effects of such population transfers while describing the effects of the transmigration of the majority Kinh in the Northern and Central Highlands of Vietnam. It states, in the context of the policy of resettlement and settlement of the populations of indigenous ethnic minorities started by the government (of Vietnam) in 1975, the greater and constant pressure exerted on the land by the migrants makes the production systems of the ethnic groups increasingly impracticable. The poorly educated indigenous populations, who in the main do not speak Kinh, are poorly placed to defend themselves and risk not benefiting fully from the national policy to develop the Highlands. In addition, the traditional way of life of the indigenous populations is gradually being supplanted by the dominant civilisation of the Kinh, giving rise to dangers of assimilation and marginalisation. [1]

It is now estimated that the Chinese presently outnumber the Tibetans. In 2002, a senior Chinese official, Jin Shixun, vice president of the Commission for Planning and Development admitted that there are currently 200,000 inhabitants in Lhasa, and half are Tibetans.[2] Since 1950 there has been a large influx of majority Chinese resulting from several factors. Chinas population transfer policy now hopes to create a further influx of Chinese settlers with the construction of railway lines to the Tibet Autonomous Region. The Gormu-Lhasa railway line to be completed by the year 2007 is one example. Tibetans worry that the railway lines will only serve to accelerate the movement of Chinese settlers with devastating consequences for Tibetan plateaus environment and resources.

Mr. Chairperson, in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, indigenous Jumma peoples have been reduced to minority because of the implantation of over half a million Bengali settlers from 1979-1983. The policy continues unabated. The grant of autonomy under the CHTs Peace Accord of 1997 has little meaning, as Jummas have become minority in their own land.

Similarly, West Papuans have become victims of transmigration of the majority Javanese. The ambiguous judgment of the Indonesian Constitutional Court on Law No. 45/1999 on the division of Papua has further deteriorated the conditions of the Papuans. The Constitutional Court declared Law 45/1999 unconstitutional and thus invalid as on the date of the verdict. However, in its legal considerations it provided the opinion that the Province of West Irian Jaya (West Papua), which had been established based on Law 45/1999 and the corresponding implementing legislation, is valid, unless the Court decides otherwise.

In conclusion, Mr. Chairperson, we urge the Commission on Human Rights to adequately take up the issue of population transfer and implantation of settlers as a separate sub-item of item 10.

I thank you, Mr. Chairperson.

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[1] . World Bank, VIETNAM: AGRICULTURAL DIVERSIFICATION PROJECT, DRAFT: ETHNIC MINORITY DEVELOPMENT PLAN, Working Document, 10 November 1997.

[2] http://www.tibet.ca/wtnarchive/2002/8/9_4.html