Malaysia’s eviction of sea nomads casts light on precarious lives

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A family of the indigenous seaborne Bajau Laut community takes their early dinner inside their houseboat in Semporna, Malaysia, on August 20, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Members of the indigenous seaborne Bajau Laut community ride in a boat at their settlement in Semporna, Malaysia, on August 20, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 14 October 2024
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Malaysia’s eviction of sea nomads casts light on precarious lives

SEMPORNA, Malaysia: Patches of palm thatch entwined with a few forlorn stilts sticking out of the emerald waters in a Malaysian marine park off the island of Borneo are the only traces remaining of the homes of hundreds of sea nomads.
Robin, one of those left homeless among a community that inspired the fictional ‘Metkayina’ tribe in the 2022 film ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’, took to a boat with his children to flee the Malaysian officials who razed their home.
“I don’t know where to go now,” he told Reuters from the deck of a wooden houseboat festooned with drying clothes, where he lives with a cousin and their eight children after the demolition drive razed structures deemed illegal.
His indigenous sea-faring community, known as the Bajau Laut, is famed for the ability to dive underwater for lengthy periods unassisted by equipment.




Three generations of an indigenous seaborne Bajau Laut community family spend their evening together at their stilt house built over the sea in Semporna, Malaysia, on August 20, 2024. (REUTERS)

They have lived in the area for centuries, but are still seen as migrants by the authorities, since most of them lack basic paperwork to prove their names, ages and nationality.
Sometimes known as Sama Bajau elsewhere in Southeast Asia, many face impoverished, precarious lives and are denied access to health, education or financial services without such documents.
“We can’t buy food because our gold pawn tickets were damaged during the demolition,” said Robin’s cousin, Indasaini. “We have no money. The children are sick and we don’t have money to buy medicine.”
Malaysian authorities must take a more compassionate approach and consult the community before evictions or resettlements, said Vilashini Somiah, an anthropologist at the University of Malaya.
“These programs do not work because there’s no consultation with them in which you recognize the community as people,” she said, referring to previous efforts.
Many sea nomads settled around islands in the Tun Sakaran Marine Park, popular with divers and tourists off Malaysia’s eastern state of Sabah, but a crackdown on cross-border crime since June has demolished hundreds of homes.




A general view of stilt houses of the indigenous seaborne Bajau Laut community in Semporna, Malaysia. (Reuters)

Another reason for the drive was national security concerns, as the waters of the Sulu archipelago between Sabah and the southern Philippines are a stronghold of Abu Sayyaf, a militant group notorious for piracy and kidnapping that is linked to Islamic State.
Like many undocumented Bajau Laut, Robin goes by one name and does not know his exact age. But he said he can trace his family’s history in the area, with his grandparents buried on an islet in the government-protected park.
To earn his livelihood, Robin said he used to fish and gather wood from the islands to sell on the mainland, but has been unable to do so since he was evicted.

Growing scrutiny
Reuters was unable to verify Robin’s account, but state officials confirmed the campaign to remove intruders from protected areas of the park in the Semporna district.
“The Sabah government will take all necessary action to help,” Hajjiji Noor, the state’s chief minister, told Reuters, adding that authorities had found another coastal area in Semporna to resettle the community.




Houseboats of the indigenous seaborne Bajau Laut community anchor in the waters of Semporna, Malaysia, on August 20, 2024. (REUTERS)

A fifth of the roughly 28,000 Bajau Laut identified by the government in Sabah are Malaysian citizens, though analysts believe the figure could be higher.
The state has an estimated 1 million undocumented residents, including stateless indigenous communities and economic migrants from neighboring Philippines and Indonesia.
The evictions of the Bajau Laut come amid growing scrutiny of Malaysia’s treatment of migrants. In March, New York-based Human Rights Watch said authorities had detained about 45,000 undocumented people since May 2020.
The move has sparked outrage and debate in Malaysia, with some activists calling for citizenship for the community to ensure better protection, though some voiced concern over national security.
Bilkuin Jimi Salih, 20, a Bajau Laut youth born in Sabah, said a Malaysian identity document was key to securing better education and job opportunities.
“I had many ambitions ... to become a policeman, a soldier, but I can’t because I don’t have documents,” said Bilkuin, who now teaches at Iskul Sama DiLaut, a non-government body that educates stateless children.
His efforts to build a career were hampered by the lack of a birth certificate and identity card, he added.
“It’s costly to take a pregnant woman to hospital, and that’s how I realized why I wasn’t born in a hospital,” he added. “My family was too poor to afford it.”
Winning citizenship may be difficult, however, Vilashini said, in view of the community’s disputed origins and a lengthy history of squabbles over resources between undocumented people and the residents of one of Malaysia’s poorest states.
She urged the authorities to better engage with the community to resolve the issue, adding, “It has to be consensual, it has to be respectable.”
Without documents, life feels truly unfair, Bilkuin said. “We want to have documents so that ... our children won’t experience what we’ve been through.”


Family first: Biden joins list of US presidents pardoning relatives

Updated 12 sec ago
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Family first: Biden joins list of US presidents pardoning relatives

  • Bill Clinton granted a pardon to his half-brother Roger, who had served time in prison on 1985 drug charges
  • Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, a fellow real estate magnate whose son Jared is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka
WASHINGTON: US presidents traditionally dole out pardons as they leave office but Joe Biden’s “full and unconditional” pardon of his son Hunter is a rare instance involving a family member.
Bill Clinton granted a pardon to his half-brother Roger, who had served time in prison on 1985 drug charges, on January 20, 2001, his last day in office.
And Donald Trump pardoned Charles Kushner, a fellow real estate magnate whose son Jared is married to Trump’s daughter Ivanka, at the end of his first term in the White House.
Trump, now president-elect, nominated Kushner, 70, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to tax evasion, witness tampering and making illegal campaign contributions, on Saturday to be the next US ambassador to France.
Kushner, who served 14 months in prison, admitted hiring a prostitute to seduce his brother-in-law, who was cooperating in the campaign finance inquiry, and sending a videotape of the encounter to his own sister.
Hunter Biden, who has struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, is the first child of a sitting president to receive a pardon.
His father, who leaves office on January 20, had repeatedly said he would not pardon his son — but in announcing the move on Sunday he claimed that Hunter had been “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted.”
“I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” Biden said.
“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president said.
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty to tax evasion in September and was facing up to 17 years in prison. He risked 25 years in prison for the felony gun charge but was not expected to receive such stiff sentences in either case.
Presidents have also used their constitutionally-mandated pardon powers over the years on close friends and political allies.
One of the most controversial pardons in recent years was that of former president Richard Nixon by his successor in the White House, Gerald Ford.
Ford granted a “full and unconditional” pardon to Nixon, who was facing potential prosecution over the Watergate scandal, on September 8, 1974.
Trump is the first former president convicted of a crime — falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star — but he will not be able to pardon himself because the case involved state and not federal charges.

Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

Updated 23 min 34 sec ago
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Trump warns ‘hell to pay’ if Gaza hostages not freed before his inauguration

  • Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with Biden’s occasional criticism
  • Israel’s retaliatory campaign post Oct. 7 has killed more than 44,000 people in Gaza

WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on Monday warned Gaza militants of massive repercussions if hostages are not released by the time he takes office.
The threat comes after exhaustive diplomacy by outgoing President Joe Biden’s administration that has so far failed to secure a deal that would both end Israel’s war in Gaza and free hostages seized 14 months ago.
“If the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied History of the United States of America. RELEASE THE HOSTAGES NOW!“
Trump has vowed staunch support for Israel and to dispense with Biden’s occasional criticism, but has also spoken of his desire to secure deals on the world stage.
Hamas staged the deadliest ever attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. The assault resulted in 1,208 deaths, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.
Militants seized 251 hostages during the attack, some of whom were already dead. Of those, 97 are still held in Gaza, including 35 the army says are dead.
Israel’s retaliatory campaign has killed 44,429 people in Gaza, according to figures from the territory’s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.


Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  

Updated 02 December 2024
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Philippine navy tracks Russian submarine spotted in South China Sea  

  • Manila has faced increasing territorial confrontations in disputed waters
  • Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are known to be among the stealthiest  

MANILA: A warship and aircraft were deployed by the Philippine military to track a Russian submarine that passed through the South China Sea off the country’s western coast last week, a navy official said on Monday. 

The Russian Kilo-class submarine was sighted in the Philippines’ exclusive economic zone on Nov. 28, about 80 nautical miles off the western province of Occidental Mindoro, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines. 

“At the onset, we were surprised. We were concerned why there was a submarine,” Commodore Roy Vincent Trinidad, Philippine Navy spokesman for the South China Sea, told Arab News. 

“We sent four different aircraft over a span of four days, we made several sorties and we also dispatched a frigate, and we established communications.” 

The Russian submarine, which identified itself as UFA 490, said it was waiting for improved weather conditions and was en route home to the eastern city of Vladivostok after wrapping up an exercise with the Malaysian navy. 

It has since left the Philippines’ EEZ and was moving slowly in surface mode, which was “unusual,” Trinidad said. 

Russia’s Kilo-class submarines are considered some of the stealthiest and have been regularly refined since the 1980s. 

The Russian Embassy in Manila could not be reached for comment.

The submarine, like other foreign ships, has the right to pass through the Philippines’ EEZ under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea’s freedom of navigation. 

But the Russian vessel’s presence still raised concerns in Manila, which has dealt with increasing territorial confrontations in the disputed South China Sea, particularly between Chinese and Philippine coast guard and naval forces. 

“All of that is very concerning. Any intrusion into the West Philippine Sea, of our EEZ, of our baselines, is very worrisome. So yes, it’s just another one,” President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. told reporters on Monday.

The Philippines, China and several other countries have overlapping claims in the disputed waters, a strategic waterway through which billions of dollars of goods pass each year. 

Beijing has maintained its expansive claims of the area, despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling the historical assertion to it had no basis.

In 2022, China and Russia declared a “no limits” partnership when Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Beijing. The two countries carried out live-fire naval exercises in the South China Sea in July.


International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

Updated 02 December 2024
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International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

  • Judge Tomoko Akane: ‘The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization’

THE HAGUE, Netherlands: The president of the International Criminal Court lashed out at the United States and Russia for interfering with its investigations, calling threats and attacks on the court “appalling.”
“The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization,” Judge Tomoko Akane, in her address to the institution’s annual meeting, which opened on Monday.
Akane was referring to remarks made by US Sen. Lindsey Graham, whose Republican party will control both branches of Congress in January, and who called the court a “dangerous joke” and urged Congress to sanction its prosecutor. “To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said on Fox News.
This marks the first time the global court of justice calls out a sitting leader of a major Western all.
Graham was angered by an announcement last month that judges had granted a request from the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief for crimes against humanity in connection with the nearly 14-month war in Gaza.
The decision has been denounced by critics of the court and given only milquetoast approval by many of its supporters, a stark contrast to the robust backing of an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin last year over war crimes in Ukraine.
Graham’s threat isn’t seen as just empty words. President-elect Donald Trump sanctioned the court’s previous prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, with a travel ban and asset freeze for investigating American troops and intelligence officials in Afghanistan.
Akane on Monday also had harsh words for Russia. “Several elected officials are being subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the Security Council,” she said. Moscow issued warrants for Khan and others in response to the investigation into Putin.
The Assembly of States Parties, which represents the ICC’s 124 member countries, will convene its 23rd conference to elect committee members and approve the court’s budget against a backdrop of unfavorable headlines.
The ICC was established in 2002 as the world’s permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The court only becomes involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes on their territory. To date, 124 countries have signed on to the Rome Statute, which created the institution. Those who have not include Israel, Russia and China.
The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to execute arrest warrants.
US President Joe Biden called the warrants for Netanyahu and the former defense minister “outrageous” and vowed to stand with Israel. A year ago, Biden called the warrant for Putin “justified” and said the Russian president had committed war crimes. The US is not an ICC member country.
France said it would “respect its obligations” but would need to consider Netanyahu’s possible immunities. When the warrant for Putin was announced, France said it would “lend its support to the essential work” of the court. Another member country, Austria, begrudgingly acknowledged it would arrest Netanyahu but called the warrants “utterly incomprehensible.” Italy called them “wrong” but said it would be obliged to arrest him. Germany said it would study the decision. Member Hungary has said it would stand with Israel instead of the court.
Global security expert Janina Dill worried that such responses could undermine global justice efforts. “It really has the potential to damage not just the court, but international law,” she said.
Milena Sterio, an expert in international law at Cleveland State University, told the AP that sanctions against the court could affect a number of people who contribute to the court’s work, such as international human rights lawyer Amal Clooney. Clooney advised the current prosecutor on his request for the warrants for Netanyahu and others.
“Sanctions are a huge burden,” Sterio said.
Also hanging heavy over the meeting in the Hague, are the internal pressures that Khan faces. In October, the AP reported the 54-year-old British lawyer is facing allegations he tried to coerce a female aide into a sexual relationship and groped her.
Two co-workers in whom the woman confided reported the alleged misconduct in May to the court’s independent watchdog, which says it interviewed the woman and ended its inquiry after five days when she opted against filing a formal complaint. Khan was never questioned. He has denied the claims.
The Assembly of States Parties has announced it will launch an external probe into the allegations. It’s not clear if the investigation will be addressed during the meeting.
The court, which has long faced accusations of ineffectiveness, will have no trials pending after two conclude in December. While it has issued a number of arrest warrants in recent months, many high-profile suspects remain at large.
Member states don’t always act. Mongolia refused to arrest Putin when he visited in September. Sudan’s former President Omar Al-Bashir is wanted by the ICC over accusations related to the conflict in Darfur, but his country has refused to hand him over. Last week, Khan requested a warrant for the head of Myanmar’s military regime, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, for attacks against the country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. Judges have yet to decide on that request.
“It becomes very difficult to justify the court’s existence,” Sterio said.


‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

Updated 02 December 2024
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‘Stampedes’ kill 56 at Guinea football match: government

  • Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader

CONAKRY: Stampedes at a football match killed 56 people in Guinea’s second-largest city of N’Zerekore, the junta-controlled government said Monday.
“Protests of dissatisfaction with refereeing decisions led to stone-throwing by supporters, resulting in fatal stampedes” at Sunday’s match, the government statement said, which was published as a news ticker on national television.
“Hospital services have put the provisional death toll at 56,” it added.
Prime Minister Amadou Oury Bah condemned the “incidents that marred the match between the teams of Labe and N’Zerekore,” in a post on Facebook.
“The government is following the situation and reiterates its call for calm so as not to impede hospital services from aiding the injured,” he added.
Local media said the match in the southeastern city was part of a tournament organized in honor of Guinea’s junta leader, Mamady Doumbouya, who seized power in a 2021 coup and has installed himself as president.
Such tournaments have become common in the West African nation as Doumbouya eyes a potential run in presidential elections expected next year and political alliances form.