Aborigines left homeless by Typhoon Morakot said they have decided to file a complaint with the UN against President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) for not respecting their rights.
Aborigines are “disappointed” with the government’s response to their call for the right to decide how they should rebuild their homes, said Oto Micyang, who is in charge of liaison affairs for the Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition, which organized an overnight protest in front of the Presidential Office on Saturday.
More than 600 Aborigines from the Tsou tribe in Chiayi County, the Bunun in Kaohsiung County, the Pingpu from Kaohsiung County’s Siaolin Village (小林) and the Paiwan and Rukai tribes in Taitung and Pingtung counties, joined the rally to protest against forced resettlement.
They appealed to the Ma government to stop forcing Aborigines to move into so-called “permanent houses” that have been built outside their homelands and constructed in a way that does not reflect traditional Aboriginal lifestyles and culture, Micyang said.
Although the government said it had never forced Morakot victims to move into new settlements, Micyang said it never offered any other options.
“When tribal elders selected a safe place for their new settlement, government officials just called it unsafe, without offering scientific evidence,” he said.
The protesters said rehabilitation should be done step by step. The government, however, was so eager to permanently resettle Morakot victims who lived in mountainous areas, it failed to see their needs and respect their different lifestyles and cultures, they said.
Micyang said the Indigenous Peoples Action Coalition had launched a petition drive, and once it has collected enough signatures it will file a complaint with UN-affiliated organizations advocating human rights and the interests of indigenous peoples.
Morakot devastated portions of southern Taiwan in August last year, triggering massive flooding and landslides that left more than 700 people dead or missing.
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
A drunk woman was sexually assaulted inside a crowded concourse of Taipei Railway Station on Thursday last week before a foreign tourist notified police, leading to calls for better education on bystander intervention and review of security infrastructure. The man, surnamed Chiu (邱), was taken into custody on charges of sexual assault, taking advantage of the woman’s condition and public indecency. Police discovered that Chiu was a fugitive with prior convictions for vehicle theft. He has been taken into custody and is to complete his unserved six-month sentence, police said. On Thursday last week, Chiu was seen wearing a white
EVA Airways, one of the leading international carriers in Taiwan, yesterday said that it was investigating reports that a cabin crew manager had ignored the condition of a sick flight attendant, who died on Saturday. The airline made the statement in response to a post circulating on social media that said that the flight attendant on an outbound flight was feeling sick and notified the cabin crew manager. Although the flight attendant grew increasingly ill on the return flight, the manager did not contact Medlink — a system that connects the aircraft to doctors on the ground for treatment advice during medical
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
RSS