Can indigenous peoples maintain the balance between their societies and environments in Asia?

Running Head: SOCIOLOGY
Sociology
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1SOCIOLOGY
“Can indigenous peoples maintain the balance between their societies and
environments when they have rising populations and increasing demands for cash
and services?” Critically comment on the national government policy conditions
necessary for protecting sustainable community development of an indigenous
minority in the Asian region.
In Asia, there are almost 260 million people from the indigenous background which is
equivalent to three-quarters of the world’s total. The Asian surroundings are made the most
culturally diverse regions in the world. The poverty rate of the indigenous people in Asia is
almost three-times higher than the Asian average. He educational, social am the other conditions
are also worse. The economic growth is the primary driver of reduction of poverty in Asia. It is
found that bringing certain groups like the indigenous people is difficult in the mainstream
economy according to Altman (2018). The international communities are trying to eliminate the
global poverty by the year 2030. However, it is challenging because a large number of the
indigenous people lie in deep poverty. Moreover, they suffer from deprivations too in a
widespread manner. In Asia, there are 100 different ethnic groups which estimates 68 % of the
country’s entire population of 50 millions.
There are other ethnic nationalities such as Karenni, Rakhine, Shan, Karen, Kachin and
Mon. The indigenous groups suffered hugely from few policies of the former military regimes.
With its moving forward towards the democracy, the government has begun the ceasefire talks
with the armed groups from the ethnic background. As infirmed by Bendell (2017), in India, the
indigenous people are called the “adivasis” with the estimated population of 84.3 million
equivalents to 8.2 % of the entire population. There are other ethnic groups but not recognized
officially. In the north-east Indian seven tests, the largest concentration of the indigenous are

2SOCIOLOGY
found. The range of the indigenous people stretches from Rajasthan to West Bengal. The
indigenous people of Malaysia represent almost 12 % of the whole national population of almost
30 millions. In the Peninsular Malaysia, the Orang Asli are the indigenous people. On the other
hand, the national population in the Philippine is 92 million including the indigenous population
of 10% to 20%. The Cordillera and the people in the northern mountains of Luzon are
collectively known as Igorot whereas the indigenous people in the southern part are known as
Lumad. Vietnam is not lesser as there are 53 ethnic groups which is 14 % of the total population
that is 90 million.
Apart from the standard deprivations such as access to food, heath services and
education, the indigenous people of Asia suffer from a deep lack of “empowerment”. The this
primarily because of the loss of control, denial of self-determination over the natural resources,
marginalization, huge assimilation pressure, the state security forces’ violent repression. There
are several countries which have legislation protecting the rights of the indigenous people but
sometimes these are overruled or ignored. Hence, it is evident that higher rates of poverty and
marginalization have left the indigenous people from the Asian origin merged between the
inconsistency of societal and environmental demands. In the labor market, they face some
disparities in poverty too. It is more relatable for the indigenous women from ethnic minority.
The rates of employments are also higher than the white non-indigenous women. The
discrimination is also between the men and the women. The place of residence for the indigenous
people are also lesser than the non- indigenous people. The discrimination has been found to be
the key driver of the social exclusion of the indigenous people and the ethnic minorities. There
have been some social movements for encouraging the political representations of the indigenous
minority. Taken for example, in Nepal, the minority groups remained underrepresented until the