KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — A Malaysian minister pledged Tuesday, July 13, to fight sexual abuse of indigenous tribal women in the remote jungles of Borneo following fresh allegations that timber workers raped several victims.
Shahrizat Abdul Jalil also said police would reopen investigations into claims of abuse — including that some girls as young as 14 had been among the victims — and deploy officers in impoverished Penan tribal communities to monitor complaints.
Forests cover about 70 percent of Sarawak, on the Malaysian side of Borneo, and timber is the state’s second biggest exporter after oil and gas.
Industry officials have repeatedly rejected claims of misconduct by their workers and police have said in the past that they did not have enough evidence to prosecute anyone.
Shahrizat, who heads the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, visited tribal settlements in Sarawak state Tuesday after rights activists released a new report documenting seven previously unpublicized claims, including that of a woman in her early 30s was allegedly held captive for a week by loggers eight years ago.
She said she became pregnant after she was raped.
"The message is very clear," Shahrizat told The Associated Press in a telephone interview on her return, promising to step up efforts to prevent such abuses. "We will not tolerate any form of criminal activities, including sexual assault, violence and rape."
The Penans have long protested against timber companies, saying they encroach upon the tribe’s ancestral land. Some also voice concerns that state officials were protecting the loggers because it is a major economic sector.
