Environmental and rights groups urged the European Union Tuesday to label Malaysia's Sarawak region "high risk" under controversial new anti-deforestation rules to be implemented from the end of December.

In a joint statement today, the groups said millions of hectares of ancient rainforests in Sarawak are at risk of being razed for timber and oil palm plantations to cater for international markets.

A year-long investigation also found Indigenous rights violations in the Malaysian state. Malaysian and Indonesian officials recently blocked civil society representatives from participating in a

Environmental and rights groups urged the European Union Tuesday to label Malaysia’s Sarawak region “high risk” under controversial

Environmental and rights groups urged the European Union on Sept. 24 to label Malaysia's Sarawak region "high risk" under controversial new anti-deforestation rules to be implemented from the end of December.

Environmental groups say Malaysia's Sarawak region should be labelled as "high risk" by the European Union because of the risk of deforestation