community must prove (orally or by documents) that they have cleared and occupied the land before 1 January 1958. Without such proof, they will be regarded as squatters on state land. Even if they can prove their right to customary land, the indigenous community has no document of title to it. Therefore, the native community wants better protection and security for native land which they can show they have been occupying through proper surveys of their individual plots. However, the process is slow. Currently, only the outer boundaries have been conducted.2 The customary land claims and disputes involve areas included in the provisional leases the state government issued to private companies for oil palm plantations, or planted forest or forest areas covered by timber licences, all over so-called state land. The onus is on the native claimants to prove their case. If the parties are unable to settle the dispute among themselves, the native community must file a claim in the High Court since no other person or authority has the power to make a decision in such disputes. The redress mechanism is expensive and time consuming for them. Furthermore, indigenous peoples who were relocated for the construction of the Bakun and Murum hydro-electric dams still have unsettled outstanding issues, which include inadequate land for farming, lack of employment opportunities, lack of roads and water supply and temporary schools for their children. There were issues that involve the freedom to select native leaders through elections, as stated in UNDRIP3 too. In Sarawak, existing state policy allows a native longhouse or village to conduct ‘elections’ by nominating a person, whose name is then submitted to the district office, but is then subject to endorsement by the local Member of State Legislative Assembly before it is forwarded to State Secretary for a final decision. The appointment of a Ketua Kaum for each longhouse or village is subject to existing administrative circulars from the early 1970s. Community chiefs, however, are appointed directly by the state government, although the nomination or recommendation of political leaders of the area is subject to conditions in administrative circulars made in the early 1980s. There are complaints about delays and the non-transparent process of reappointing headman. In 2018, the SUHAKAM Sarawak Office received 2 complaints about the rejection of the reappointment of community chiefs. 2 3 96 An outer boundary survey is a first phase survey through perimeter survey projects which is funded by the Federal Government. The second phase is the survey of individual plots which will be done in future. Article 18 UNDRIP: Indigenous peoples have the right to participate in decision-making in matters which would affect their rights, through representatives chosen by themselves in accordance with their own procedures, as well as to maintain and develop their own indigenous decision-making institutions. SUHAKAM ANNUAL REPORT 2018