wfn.org | TCN: Sa’owac aboriginals reclaim and rebuild their homes after forced eviction

["Lydia Ma" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>Taiwan Church News

>2981 Edition

>April 13~19, 2009

Sa’owac aboriginals reclaim and rebuild their homes after forced  eviction

>Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong

>Written by Lydia Ma

“We finally have land to rebuild our reserve!” said retired  pastor Rev. Sinci Mayaw from West Amis Presbytery. He lives in

Sa’owac aboriginal reserve, which was seized by the local  government this winter. Since their houses have also been torn down,

residents from Sa’owac have been living in tents ever since.

According to reports, the county government was planning to build bike  trails and had told residents to clear the area by December

15th last year. Though the deadline was later extended to February 6th  of this year, Sa’owac residents were surprised by dozens of

police officers who showed up to evict them by force and told them their  houses would be torn down within a week.

After petitioning Taoyuan County government and the Executive Yuan for  the right to rebuild their homes and shaving their heads to

demonstrate their determination, Sa’owac residents finally obtained  government approval to rebuild. Rev. Sinci Mayaw proceeded

to set up an account and a foundation to encourage fellow Taiwanese to  contribute financially to their rebuilding efforts.

According to Chang, many areas surrounding their reserve were already  registered and belonged to other people. Residents found a

lawyer to help them find out the status of their land, and it turned out  that it had not been registered by anyone. The lawyer notified

local government officials and obtained an application to help  Sa’owac aboriginals to claim the land as their own. As soon as

aboriginal residents complete the application to register their  ownership, they can start rebuilding their homes.

Chang also mentioned that the tribe consists mainly of seniors and there  are thirteen families in total. Residents hope to build 13

Amis style houses. The cost of reconstruction will be around $120,000  NTD but the tribe has been able to collect $70,000 NTD so

far. Furthermore, some of the material left by the police after they  tore down the old buildings can be reused for the new buildings.

Sa’owac aboriginals urge fellow Taiwanese to understand their  plight and support them financially by wiring donations to their post

>office account.

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