Youth leaders challenge need for Indigenous Rights Bill

The Bua Urban Youth Network has told Parliament that the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Bill 2025 should not proceed in its current form.

They argued that Fiji already has stronger indigenous protections than most countries and does not need a new standalone law.

Alisi Rabukawaqa of the Bua Urban Youth Network under the Fiji Council of Social Services (FCOSS) made the submission alongside Luke Uluiborotu of the Bua Provincial Youth Council before the Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights in Suva yesterday.

“The ultimate objective should not simply be recognition of rights but the practical strengthening of Indigenous authority, participation, stewardship, and decision-making in ways that reflect Fiji’s unique legal, cultural, and historical context,” Ms Rabukawaqa said.

She pointed to existing laws already protecting iTaukei rights – the iTaukei Affairs Act, iTaukei Lands Act, iTaukei Land Trust Act, iTaukei Development Fund Act and iTaukei Trust Fund Act as well as protections within the Environmental Management Act, Fisheries Act, Forest Act and Climate Change Act.

Indigenous Fijians also own roughly 87 per cent of land, she said, one of the strongest examples of customary tenure globally.

Ms Rabukawaqa said the Bill was grounded in UNDRIP, a declaration carrying no binding legal force, while Fiji had already ratified binding international conventions covering the same ground, including the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Mr Uluiborotu raised concern that embedding an action plan inside primary legislation was poor legislative practice that would constrain future policy development.

When asked directly by Opposition MP Jone Usamate whether there was simply no need for the bill, Ms Rabukawaqa answered: “Yes.”