wfn.org | Rukai aborigines petition to opt out of Tzu-Chi permanent housing deal

["Taiwan Church News" <enews@pctpress.org>]

>      Taiwan Church News

>3029 Edition

>March 15~21, 2010

Rukai aborigines petition to opt out of Tzu-Chi permanent housing  deal

>Reported by Sam Lee

>Written by Lydia Ma

“We want terms and conditions that treat us with dignity as  we rebuild our 
homes!” said Rukai

Aborigines from Wutai Township in Pingtung County. They were  responding to 
“Da-ai

permanent housing units” built by Tzu-Chi Buddhist Foundation  and supported by 
the Ma

>administration.

Housing arrangements following Typhoon Morakot had been planned  and determined 
by

government and Tzu-Chi without consulting Aborigines, who are  mostly 
Christians and make

up the majority of people left homeless because of the typhoon.  Rukai 
Aborigines wanted to

>make it clear that they’d had enough.

Immediately after a Sunday service on March 14, Christians and  non-Christians 
alike came

forward to sign a petition urging government officials and Tzu-Chi  
representatives to treat

Morakot victims with due respect, stop forcing Aborigines into  accepting 
permanent housing

units, and stop coercing them into signing away ownership of their  former 
homes and lands in

>exchange for permanent housing units.

PCT Rukai district leaders were joined by more than 20 delegates  from 
Catholic, Methodist,

and Seventh-day Adventist churches, as well as other social  organizations from 
across

Taiwan, in issuing a joint declaration protesting against the Ma  
administration and Tzu-Chi

Buddhist organization. The declaration condemned these two  organizations for 
ganging up

and misleading or coercing Aborigines into signing away ownership  of their 
lands in exchange

>for permanent housing units.

According to reports, there were 340 signed petitions as of March  14 and up to 
four aborigine

reservations had collected signatures from all of its members.  These four 
reservations had

been given until July 2010 to move into permanent housing units.

Signed petitions were submitted to Pingtung County government the  next day. 
According to

churches and organizations that signed them, if the Ma  administration and 
Tzu-Chi Foundation

continue to pressure Aborigines into signing unfair agreements or  obeying 
unreasonable

regulations (such as a set of “New Ten Commandments”),  Rukai Aborigines will 
not go down

without a fight. They will not only fight for their rights, but  appeal to the 
international community

>as well.

According to Rev. Pelenge from PCT Rukai Rebuilding Committee,  Tzu-Chi had 
imposed

strict and unreasonable regulations for Aborigines moving into  permanent 
housing units.

These regulations not only required Aborigines to sign an  agreement giving up 
lands passed

down to them by their ancestors, but also scorned traditional  Rukai culture 
and lifestyles. For

example, the agreement forbade Aborigines from carving totems in  their new 
homes.

After hearing that a new chapel built by Tzu-Chi organization in  Linpin 
permanent housing

community actually included Buddhist slogans and a set of  “New Ten 
Commandments” posted

on its walls, Rukai Aborigines began feeling uncomfortable about  their own 
fate.

However, in the past 6 months, Rukai Aborigines have been  receiving phone 
calls from Tzu-

Chi pressuring them into signing agreements to give up their  lands. It was 
also discovered that

their personal information had been leaked. In light of these  incidents, 
several churches have

joined Rukai residents in petitioning that such unfair rebuilding  arrangements 
be halted.

According to Ke Hsin-hsiung, a courageous Aborigine from  Karamumudesane whose 
actions

saved many of his own people during Typhoon Morakot, some  Aborigines have 
returned to

their former homes and lands after the typhoon to plant crops and  rebuild 
their houses.

Ke said that Aborigines believe the most dependable way of living  and the best 
rebuilding

strategy is to live in the land of their ancestors. However, the  government’s 
post-Morakot

reconstruction plan not only ignores the will of Aborigines, but  also forces 
them to leave their

lands, which is a deeper wound for Aborigines than all the damages  inflicted 
by Typhoon

>Morakot.

Ke, a devout Catholic, went on to explain that Rukai people and  their 
ancestors have

weathered many storms and typhoons throughout history, but were  still able to 
live through

them and move on with their lives. Typhoon Morakot is just part of  life for 
Aborigines, but a far

greater tragedy would be abandoning their lands and Christian  roots.

Hence, Rukai Aborigines are petitioning the Ma administration to  include 
Aborigines in the

dialogue on post-Morakot reconstruction, as well as respect the  religious 
convictions of

Aborigines. They are also urging the Ma administration to have a  holistic 
strategy to support

Aborigines once they’ve moved into permanent housing units,  which would 
include rebuilding

>broken families and broken hearts.

PCT Morakot Rebuilding Committee member, Pastor Chen Mei-Jiun,  said that PCT 
General

Assembly is very concerned about how Aborigines are coping after  the storm and 
has asked

local PCT churches to continue reaching out and praying for  Morakot victims. 
These people

have suffered a lot and many have been treated unfairly by the  government.

>********************

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