Chairman’s Message The Commission was saddened by the tragedy of seven young Orang Asli (Indigenous) children who were missing whilst under the care of their school’s hostel in SK Tohoi, Gua Musang in August. Only two of them were found alive 50 days later. The Commission has previously recommended that the Government discontinue its practice of placing young children in hostels as these children have the fundamental right to live with, and be placed under the care of their parents, as enshrined in Article 9 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child to which Malaysia is a State Party. The Commission has also recommended that the Government set up Level 1 (Standard 1 to Standard 3) schools in smaller cluster settlements as was done in the 90s with assistance from the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA). The land rights of Indigenous Peoples remained high on the Commission’s agenda. The Commission continued to advocate for the early and speedy implementation of the recommendations in its Report of the National Inquiry into the Land Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Malaysia (National Inquiry Report) through various platforms including a briefing session on the outcome of the Special Task Force’s study on the recommendations of the Commission’s National Inquiry Report in April; as well as discussions with YB Senator Datuk Paul Low Seng Kuan, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. The Commission welcomed the announcement made by YB Senator Datuk Paul Low on 3 June regarding the formation of a Cabinet Committee on Native Land Rights headed by the then Deputy Prime Minister YAB Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, and tasked to address, monitor and implement the findings of the Special Task Force’s Report. It noted that one of the key roles of the Cabinet Committee is to act as an “independent” National Commission, the establishment of which was one of the 18 recommendations contained in the Commission’s National Inquiry Report, although not in the form as decided by the Government. Nevertheless, the Commission has not seen any significant development on the Committee’s implementation of the findings of the Special Task Force’s Report. Pending further action from the Cabinet Committee, the Commission will continue to raise the issues arising from its National Inquiry, along with other Indigenous People’s complaints, in its future programmes and activities, including during discussions with the relevant State Governments and Parliamentarians. During the year, the Commission intensified its work to mainstream the agenda on business and human rights through various efforts. One key milestone was the formulation of a Framework on a National Action Plan (NAP) on Business and Human Rights for Malaysia. It is the Commission’s hope that the framework will serve as a useful guideline for the creation of a holistic National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights for Malaysia by the Government towards promoting better respect for human rights among State and non-State actors in the country. As its pioneering work in this area is well noted and commended internationally among NHRIs, the Commission hopes to take the necessary follow-up actions vis-a-vis the Government with a view to bringing about the early realisation of such an Action Plan. 4 BOOK-ANR2016-01-latest.indb 4 08/04/2016 3:32 PM