UK all-parliamentary group chief writes to Taib

The chairman of the British parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal peoples, MP Martin Horwood, has written to Taib Mahmud expressing concern about the plight of the Penan as the Sarawak chief minister arrived in the UK.

A barrage of placards greeted Taib at Oxford University’s Said Business School this morning – Photo credit: Survival

Martin Horwood, MP - Photo source: Wikipedia

“The Penan have frequently been subject to violence and intimidation at the hands of loggers operating on their land… Without recognition of their land rights, the Penan are struggling to provide for themselves, and are left vulnerable to violence and exploitation,” Horwood wrote, according to Survival, the movement for tribal peoples.
Horword asked Taib to “halt logging and other developments on the Penan’s land without their free, prior and informed consent, according to international law” and to “ensure that Penan women and girls are protected from sexual violence and the perpetrators of such abuse brought to justice”.