Philippine ethnic group has most Denisovan DNA
Just wanted to contribute the following observations as I have some experience interacting with &quot;Negrito&quot; people.<p>“Although, much later, Negritos admixed with the East Asian group that had a small proportion of Denisova DNA, we found that the Negritos had a proportion markedly higher than those of other ethnic groups. Compared with Australians and Papuans, the Negritos’ Denisovan ancestry was up to 46 per cent higher,”<p>I have worked in several South East Asian countries. Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Phillipines, Malaysia, Timor, and Papua during which I was volunteering with a conservation organization. It was during these trips that I encountered &quot;Negrito&quot; people and was shocked to discover what was actively being done to them and how little of their history, knowledge, language, culture is being documented and preserved or even mentioned in our media.<p>Each of these South East Asian countries used to have a much more significant indigenous &quot;Negrito&quot;&#x2F;High Denisovan population. Some still do. But they&#x27;re rapidly declining, to the point that it is below the threshold of recoverability. It pains me to say this, but this is in many cases due to the East Asian group&#x27;s active policies.<p>In Thailand, they still exist to this day albeit their population is down to the hundreds and rapidly declining.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Maniq_people" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Maniq_people</a>
&quot;
The Maniq or Mani are an ethnic group of Thailand. They are more widely known in Thailand as the Sakai (Thai: ซาไก), a controversial derogatory term meaning &#x27;slave&#x27; 
&quot;<p>Similarly, in Malaysia they are down to below a thousand. I have met a few of them in &quot;Reservation Forest&quot; where an Islamic state government was, in my opinion, performing a slow &#x27;sous vide&#x27; genocide using destruction of their ecosystem (logging, palm oil, durian) and enforcement of &#x27;residential schools&#x27; (much like what was done in Canada and the US, it may even have been modeled after those strategies).<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Orang_Asli" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Orang_Asli</a>
&quot;
The development of the slave trade in the region was a powerful factor influencing the fate of the Orang Asli. Based on historical records, the enslavement of Negrito tribes commenced as early as 724 AD, during the early contact of the Malay Srivijaya empire. Negrito pygmies from the southern jungles were enslaved, with some being exploited until modern times.[30] Muslims, according to the laws of Islam, could not be slaves.[31] Therefore, the efforts of slave hunters were focused on the Orang Asli. It was at this time that the Malay people began to use the derogatory term sakai, meaning &quot;slaves&quot;. They were treated as wild animals. Aceh Sultanate, located in the north of the island of Sumatra, in the early 16th century equipped special expeditions to capture slaves in the Malay Peninsula, and Malacca was at that time the largest center of the slave trade in the region. Raids on slaves in the villages of Orang Asli were common in the 18th and 19th centuries. During this time, Orang Asli groups suffered raids by the Malay and Batak forces who perceived them to be of lower in status. Orang Asli settlements were sacked, with adult males being systematically executed while women and children being held captive and later sold as slaves.
&quot;<p>In Indonesia, the situation is far worse with an active genocide happening right now in the West Papua province. Although I would not term the Papuan people as &quot;Negrito&quot;, they no doubt, have much more in common with the &quot;Negrito&quot; than with the Javanese soldiers (East Asian group) they are at war with. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=5S5dNmSNR4g" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=5S5dNmSNR4g</a><p>I have to stop here because it is too upsetting for me to continue. I just wanted to contribute that it is great to discover that they have the highest proportion of Denisovan DNA because perhaps now their plight may get the attention of the broader world.