Print

Mail

wiki links

Six-day conference of Asian Aborigines finishes in Taitung

A conference of Asian Aborigines, sponsored jointly by the Asian Indigenous People's Pact (AIPP) and Taiwan Aborigines, concluded in Taitung yesterday with a statement supporting Taiwan's bid to join the UN Indigenous People's Workshop.

The six-day conference brought together some 40 delegates from 28 groups of indigenous peoples in Asia to discuss the common problems facing indigenous peoples of different countries. High on the agenda was the preservation of aboriginal cultures and the autonomy of indigenous peoples.

The representatives came from India, Nepal and Myanmar in South Asia, the Japanese Auni and Ryukyu from the north, Indonesian Bali, Laos and Eastern Malaysia from Southeast Asia.

Taiwan has sent representatives to the meetings of UN Indigenous People's Workshops in Geneva for the last seven years but is not a member of the organization.

The secretary-general of the AIPP, Jannie Lasimbang, stated in a communique that the AIPP fully supports the entry of Taiwan's indigenous peoples into the UN Indigenous Peoples' Permanent Forum.

Among the focuses of this meeting was the issue of autonomy for Taiwan's indigenous peoples and to give a reaction to the UN plan to set up a permanent forum for indigenous peoples.
This story has been viewed 2832 times.