Melissa Parke (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Mallee for bringing to light the situation of the stateless Akha people of South-East Asia, who occupy the mountainous Mekong hinterland regions of Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and China. Through my previous work with the United Nations I have been aware in a general sense of the situation of the estimated 100 million indigenous people spread throughout Asian countries. However, it was not until the member for Mallee showed me the report of his study tour from his January visit to Thailand that I became aware of the particular plight of the Akha hill people.

As the member for Mallee noted just now, the Akha are a historically peaceful people who have tended to avoid conflict by retreating to more and more remote areas. They have no culture of weapons or concept of army within their language. As stateless persons their disenfranchisement has led to subjugation by oppressive governments, military regimes and criminal elements such as opium producers. It is the Akha’s situation of being both indigenous and stateless—of being an ethnic minority group—that makes them particularly vulnerable as targets for discrimination, forced relocation, forced labour and sexual exploitation.

In the last 50 years the lucrative tropical timber market has seen the encroachment of logging and destruction of old forest areas where the Akha have traditionally lived. In 2003 the UN Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Myanmar described a pattern of confiscation of property, forced labour and portering, and rape, in ethnic areas by the Burmese army and other militia groups. Furthermore, the Akha have been easy targets for child traffickers for the sex industry in Bangkok and elsewhere. In April 1999 in a statement to the former UN Commissioner on Human Rights in a session relating to protection of children, a spokesperson from the Terre des Hommes International Federation spoke of a strong correlation between the worst forms of child labour and children coming from specifically vulnerable groups, such as ethnic minorities, tribal populations and refugees, and said the Akha hill people in northern Thailand are an example. Heavy discrimination against them means that many Akha children are being forced into slavery like situations, including prostitution and work in illegal factories. Children caught up in armed conflict are also very vulnerable to sexual exploitation. As the member for Riverina has highlighted just now, the eventual return of some sex workers to their villages has further led to the spread of AIDS to Akha communities.

Malnutrition has resulted in critical health issues, with preventable enteric and respiratory diseases dramatically reducing the Akhas’ life expectancy. In some villages child mortality is among the world’s worst, at around 50 per cent. In 2005, the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women examined the periodic reports of the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. It found that, while literacy rates were extremely low among Lao women—at 66 per cent—literacy rates among ethnic minority women were far worse. For instance, Khmu women had a literacy rate of 22 per cent; Hmong, eight per cent; and the Akha women, an extremely low 0.74 per cent. In 2007 the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people summarised the plight of indigenous peoples in Asia as follows:

They are discriminated and victimized for their origin and identities, specially in the case of women. They are excluded from full participation in the political life in the countries in which they live. They remain at the margin of national development efforts, and they score low in all indicators in relation to their enjoyment of basic rights such as education and health. They are impoverished as a result of the loss of their traditional lands, territories and lifestyles.

I understand from the member for Mallee’s parliamentary report that the Akha people in northern Thailand receive some assistance with aid projects from NGOs and Australian and other aid agencies as well as from the King of Thailand. However, it is clear from the available evidence that significant further assistance is needed for the Akha people to achieve basic health and literacy levels in the various countries in which they live. I am aware that this is also the case for other ethnic minority groups across Southeast Asia.

Achieving significant improvement in the situation of all ethnic minority groups requires the support of the United Nations, the international aid community and active dialogue between and assistance of UN member states, particularly within this region. The member for Isaacs has noted the various ways in which the Australian government is assisting in this matter. I look forward to Australia continuing to play an important role in promoting the advancement and equitable treatment of indigenous peoples in Asia who are, in the view of the special rapporteur, among the most discriminated against, socially and economically marginalised and politically subordinated parts of the society in the countries in which they live. (Time expired)

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