FATIGUE, uncontrolled appetite and leg cramps are among the side effects a group of Orang Asli women suffered allegedly after being forced to take birth control pills and injections by the government.

One woman, Senora Goh, said her fourth child was born with defects because of the accumulated effects of the contraceptives.

They said the Health Ministry programme began during Barisan Nasional but is being continued by the present Pakatan Harapan administration.

The women of the Termiar tribe in Gerik, Perak, told The Malaysian Insight, that they were given oral contraceptives after they gave birth at government facilities.

The nurses who prescribed these pills did not tell them what the side effects were but insisted that they take the medicine as it was to “stop them from having children”.

A community leader, Ajang Aluej, said the women took the pills in good faith as they believed that the government was giving them something beneficial.  

“They started giving me these pills after I gave birth to my third child in 2015,” said Senora, 29, when met at Kg Air Papan, a Temiar settlement of about 86 villagers.

“When I took the pills, I always had headaches, an uncontrolled appetite and I got tired easily. I was very uncomfortable and scared, and that’s when I stopped taking the pills.”

After she stopped, Senora became pregnant with her fourth child, who was born with defects.

“My fourth child is disabled. He has no hands,” she said, but remains unsure if this was a side effect of the birth control pills.

“My first, second and third children did not have any defect. Although I have stopped taking the pills, I don’t feel healthy any more. I get scared whenever they try to give me pills.”

Kg Air Papan was one of five Termiar settlements which submitted a memorandum to the government last week on the plight of their community which is being threatened by loggers.

The memorandum also claimed the tribe’s women were forced to take contraceptives to prevent them from having many children.

Linda Alam said she suffered from the same symptoms as Senora after being told to take the same pills in 2015, after the birth of her first child.  

“Last year, they started giving me injections. They didn’t tell me anything. I told them I did not want these injections but they told me, if I didn’t I get them, I will keep giving birth.”

Mazliza Musa, 29, was also given birth control pills a week after she had her first child.

“I told them I did not want to take the pills but the nurse didn’t accept what I said.”

Zaiton Goh, 24, said all the women were not told of the side effects and consequences of the birth control pills.

“All this while, we just accepted and took the medicine. But we now have to bear with the consequences and persistent pain. We want them to stop prescribing these pills,” said Zaiton.

Responding to the allegations in the memorandum, Health Minister Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said the injections were to prevent life-threatening pregnancies among the women, many of whom suffer from anaemia.

The minister also pledged to investigate the women’s claims.

Breaking traditions

Ajang, the Kg Air Papan village representative, said the whole community was shocked when they eventually found out that the pills were contraceptives.

“We were told they were for our own good but in reality it was not,” he said, adding the Health Ministry’s actions disrespected the community and trampled on their rights.  

“They should have approached us first and explained to us what they wanted to do. They should have gotten the consent of the husband and wife first.”

The tribe can’t accept the ministry’s reasoning that the move is to stop them from having too many children, he said.

“We have our own traditions on family planning. If we wanted to, we could do it ourselves according to our own customs.”

He said the contraceptives are a disrespect to the tribe’s customs as having many children is considered a blessing.

“According to our customs, parents who have many children will be well off as they will have someone to take care of them when they are old. It is normal for one family to have 11 to 12 children. But some do not have that many.”

The Centre for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC) said it is not just the Gerik tribes who have contraceptives prescribed to them but also those in other states.

A COAC representative, who wanted to be known as Lili, said the programme started sometime between 2015 and 2016.

The Orang Asli of Pos Piah once lodged a police report in 2017 asking that the contraceptive programme be stopped.

“Our observations are that the cases and symptoms are different according to region and tribe. In Pahang, for instance, they did not exhibit adverse symptoms, except uncontrolled appetite,” said Lili.

“The ministry would give briefings to Orang Asli settlements which are close to towns but those living in remote areas would not be told anything,” said Lili.

COAC and the Pan-Malaysian Orang Asal Network (JOAS) helped the Termiar submit their memorandum to the government. – July 18, 2019.