KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysian security forces have destroyed nearly 140 houses belonging to an indigenous sea-dwelling community off Borneo island's Sabah state in a major anti-crime crackdown, a local government ministry said on Friday.
Sabah's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Environment said "138 unauthorized settlements" were demolished between Tuesday and Thursday.
The operation was carried out due to security issues and cross-border criminal activities, the ministry said in a statement, adding that "the sovereignty of the nation's laws must be upheld."
The area houses mainly the indigenous Bajau Laut, a community of mostly stateless sea-dwelling nomads who typically live along the coasts in stilt houses and huts.
Activists have condemned the action against the Bajau Laut.
"Does this situation create a more secure environment? How much of the nation's money has been stolen by the Bajau Laut for them to be treated like animals?" Mukmin Nantang, the founder of the activist group Borneo Komrad, posted on Facebook in Malay on Thursday.
A local rights nongovernmental organization, Pusat Komas said on Thursday that the Bajau Laut "face systemic discrimination," adding that "their forced removal raises serious questions about the equitable treatment of ethnic minorities in Malaysia."
Videos spreading online showed a hut on fire and destroyed stilt houses on the water. Agence France-Presse (AFP) was unable to verify the authenticity of the footage.
Citing police sources, the ministry alleged that some homeowners had burned their houses to gain sympathy and to go viral online.
In early May, the sea nomads were served with notices to vacate on the grounds they had built unauthorized homes within the protected Tun Sakaran Marine Park, the ministry said.
The demolition of the houses was also aimed at protecting the park against illegal fishing, farming and erecting of structures without permission, it added.
The Bajau Laut usually build their homes on stilts on top of coral reefs in the rich marine biodiversity park famous for scuba diving and snorkeling.
Sabah is the second largest of Malaysia's 13 states, sharing a land border with Indonesia and sea borders with Brunei and the Philippines.
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