United against EU’s ‘Crop Apartheid’

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Smallholders protesting Europe’s proposed palm oil ban in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

KUCHING: In a massive show of opposition to the European Union’s (EU) efforts to impose a ‘Crop Apartheid’ on Malaysian palm oil, Malaysia’s oil palm smallholders took to the streets of downtown Kuala Lumpur yesterday to protest Europe’s proposed palm oil ban.

The EU’s planned ban on palm oil threatens 650,000 smallholders and over 3.2 million Malaysians who rely on the palm oil industry for their livelihoods, said the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) in a statement issued from Kuala Lumpur.

The statement noted that rural communities across Malaysia would be devastated by the proposed restriction and thousands would be driven into poverty.

“The Malaysian government has previously warned that if any ban on palm oil would be implemented by the EU, then it would take the necessary actions in order to protect the rights and livelihoods of Malaysian smallholders.”

In the statement, Sarawak Land Consolidation & Rehabilitation Authority (Salcra) chairman Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas was also quoted as saying that Malaysia strongly condemns any actions by European politicians that will discriminate against the country’s oil palm smallholders.

“The policies that the EU is proposing to introduce will harm Malaysia’s rural communities and reduce incomes for Malaysian families. These are consequences that we cannot accept,” he emphasised.

Dayak Oil Palm Planters Association (Doppa) president Dr Richard Mani Banda said Europe’s actions undermined the indigenous communities of Borneo.

“This cuts off income from families to feed their children and send them to school with good supplies like the kids of Berlin and London have. This is modern day colonialism.”

National Association of Small Holders (NASH) president Dato Aliasak Ambia, on the other hand, described Europe’s efforts to impose a ‘Crop Apartheid’ on farmers from the developing world as “violating every United Nations treaty Europe has signed up for.”

“We won’t forget neither will allow this discrimination to continue.”

Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad also shared the same sentiment and pointed out that the proposed EU ban on palm oil biofuels under the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) was not only discriminatory but must also be removed.

He added that over 112,000 Felda smallholders in Malaysia will be harmed by this ban.

Meanwhile, MPOC chairman Dato Lee Yeow Chor outlined how the palm oil industry has responded quickly and effectively to the EU’s planned ban on palm oil biofuels under RED.

“In Malaysia, MPOC’s experience with digital campaigning has been invaluable. A new campaign – Faces of Palm Oil – was supported by MPOC, giving a platform for Malaysia’s oil palm smallholders to express their opposition to the EU plan.”

The Faces of Palm Oil platform has energised a nationwide movement, dominating media debate on the issue, and culminating in a smallholder protest against the EU in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

MPOC’s proactive engagement inside Europe has also led to 57 members of the European Parliament (MEPs) tabling an amendment supporting Malaysian palm oil, and opposing the ban. MPOC’s strategy to engage with European governments is also critical to the hope of overturning the EU’s planned ban on palm oil biofuels.

“On behalf of the palm oil sector, and especially the 650,000 smallholders, I thank those principled MEPs who agreed with our position that the ban on palm oil is unjustified.

“MPOC looks forward to working with the many friends and supporters that we have in Europe, to continue to oppose this ban and to protect Malaysia’s palm oil future,” he emphasised.

He also assured that MPOC will continue to support Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong in his media campaign in Europe.

“We encourage all Malaysians to join with the Faces of Palm Oil campaign online and in the media. We will not rest as long as this unjust ban hangs over the head of industry and our smallholders.”