Council of Indigenous Peoples Minister Icyang Parod urged the legislature yesterday to accelerate the process of legislation under the Aboriginal Basic Law (原住民族基本法) in a bid to better protect Aboriginal rights.
Icyang made the call in response to the UN General Assembly's adoption of the Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
After a prolonged struggle by indigenous rights activists from all around the world, the UN declaration -- which outlines basic indigenous rights to land, culture and self-determination -- was adopted by the UN General Assembly earlier this month.
Icyang welcomed the adoption of the declaration yesterday and said its core values are in line with the Aboriginal Basic Law.
"About 90 percent of the content in the declaration is already covered in our Aboriginal Basic Law," Icyang said at a news conference. "We're working toward the same goal, and thus we welcome the adoption."
However, Icyang also urged the legislature to collaborate to better provide better protection of Aboriginal rights.
"Despite the passage of the Aboriginal Basic Law, we still need 10 pieces of sublegislation to provide details on its execution," he said.
For instance, the law protects Aborigines' right to land in their traditional tribal domains, but the boundaries of the domains need to be clarified, Icyang said.
"Several draft bills were already sent for legislative review. However, they are still stuck in the legislative backlog," he said. "We would like to urge the legislature to accelerate the review process to better protect Aboriginal rights."
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