The Lumad people fear losing their land if the government and Muslim rebels agree peace deal
BANGKOK (AlertNet) – Peace talks in the conflict-torn southern Philippine island of Mindanao must address the concerns of the indigenous Lumad people who fear losing their land if a settlement is reached, the International Crisis Group (ICG) said in its latest report.
Some nine million Lumads living in Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago lack titles for their traditional territory and are concerned they would be unable to claim the resources and exercise their right to self-governance if the government signs a deal with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), according to ICG.
“Their rights need to be reconciled with the demands of the Muslims, called the Bangsamoro, who want to incorporate some of this land into a proposed autonomous ‘sub-state’, and the interests of millions of Christian settlers who moved to Mindanao over the course of the 20th century,” the report said.
The government and the MILF have been negotiating since 1997 to end more than four decades of conflict that has killed 120,000 people, displaced 2 million and stunted growth in the poor but resource-rich Muslim areas in the south.
OVERLAPPING CLAIMS MUST NOT BE IGNORED
The MILF has consistently asserted the Bangsamoro right to self-determination and have been pushing for a deal to an ancestral homeland for Muslims.
However, a settlement that ignores overlapping claims to land and resources by these different groups would be a shaky foundation for peace and could give rise to further claims of injustice, the report said.
“Fear of losing land rights is the primary reason some Lumads reject the idea of a Bangsamoro homeland with expanded territory and powers, as demanded by the MILF”, Bryony Lau, Crisis Group’s South East Asia analyst, said in a statement.
The Lumads “are also angry that they are not one of the parties at the negotiating table because they have not taken up arms against the Philippine government,” the report said.
However, divisions within and between tribes made it difficult to take a unified position.
“The vast majority are impoverished and marginalised while the handful of leaders who speak on their behalf struggle to be heard,” the report said.
The national and regional government should make it a priority to implement existing legislation on indigenous rights in the autonomous region, the report recommended.
It also said applications for ancestral domain titles from tribes who live in areas that may be included in an expanded Muslim homeland should be processed without further delay.
(Editing by Alex Whiting)
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