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Theindigenous peoples of Brunei areBruneian people who belong to the ethnic groups considered indigenous to the country. It is more commonly attributed to indigenous people of theMalay race belonging to the seven ethnic groups, namely:Brunei,Tutong,Belait,Dusun,Murut,Kedayan andBisaya.[1][2] The local termrakyat jati refers to citizens of indigenous descent, in particular the aforementioned seven ethnic groups. The termbumiputera has also been sometimes used to refer to the indigenous peoples.
According to the Brunei Nationality Act,[3] the indigenous people of Brunei are mainly classified into Malays and non-Malays. Indigenous Malays comprise the following ethnic groups:
Meanwhile the indigenous people other than the Malays are defined in the First Schedule of the Act to comprise the following ethnic groups:
Being accorded the status ofrakyat jati ('indigenous citizens') in Brunei carries with it certain benefits and opportunities which other non-indigenous citizens may not have access to.Skim Tanah Kurnia Rakyat Jati (translates as "Landless Indigenous Citizens' Scheme") is apublic housing scheme which allows therakyat jati people to acquire land and home in the allocatedpublic housing estates.[citation needed] TheRoyal Brunei Armed Forces primarily employ the indigenous Malays.[citation needed] In the Brunei Constitution, thegovernment ministers and deputy ministers must be of "the Malay race professing the Islamic Religion, save where His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan otherwise decides."[5]
The justification for these special privileges andaffirmative action schemes is that thebumiputera or the indigenous people face disadvantages due to the success of other groups in society, for example the Chinese.[6] One case of such disadvantage can be seen in the demise of the construction industry in Brunei. The building sector is a major employer of Bumiputeras and forms the lifeblood of many Bumiputera families.[7]
According toMinority Rights Group International, the non-Muslim indigenous people are continuously "banned" from conducting non-Islamic religious activities, and "pressured" and "incentivized" to convert to Islam. It also claimed that the government policy and legislation discourage indigenous cultures and languages.[8]
There is a lack of "opposition" to thebumiputera concept in Brunei due to the country being an autocratic sultanate and the lack of political diversity.[9][additional citation(s) needed]