Indigenous communities represent 6% of the world’s population, but are also the custodians of the remaining 80% of biodiversity on the planet. Despite UN recognition of their rights, they still suffer from many forms of discrimination.
Earlier in the year, children from the Yanomami, an indigenous community living in the Amazon, were rushed out. A field hospital has been set up by the Brazilian military in the region to house young children suffering from malnutrition, disease and lack of care. A health emergency has been declared. According to official statistics, about 100 children under the age of 5 died on Yanomami land in 2022.
A genocide trial has been opened. President Lula attacked his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and vowed to end illegal gold mining. The area where the Yanomami live is polluting water bodies through illegal gold mining, depriving this community of its main livelihood, fishing.
Rich in natural resources, indigenous lands in the Amazon are particularly desirable. In the Javari Valley, still in the Brazilian Amazon, some members of local indigenous communities organize patrols to protect the forest against poaching or illegal fishing. “There are big problems in the Amazon. The pressures from industrial lobbies regarding agriculture and mining are enormous. It’s really difficult to find a way to ensure their safety. Even a government that’s a little bit more progressive like Lula’s has a lot of difficulties. Doing so,” said the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Indigenous Peoples. And former head of the Minority Division, Paulo David said. Geopolitis.
476 million people
According to estimates published in 2019 by the International Labor Organization (ILO), indigenous peoples represent at least 476 million people worldwide. This is 6% of the world population. The majority of the 336 million people live in Asia and the Pacific. But it is in Latin America that indigenous people make up 8.5% of the population. It is estimated that there are more than 5000 distinct tribal groups. They speak more than 4000 different languages out of nearly 7000 languages in the world. Many are threatened.
Most of the tribes live in Asia. [Géopolitis – RTS]
Since 2007, their Specific rights are recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted by the UN General Assembly. Other international texts and declarations deal with indigenous peoples, but according to Paulo David, “What is still missing from this arsenal of mechanisms and declarations at the United Nations is a binding convention on the rights of indigenous peoples. (. ..) We must go to the summit, which is an international Agreement”.
Studies show that people from tribal communities are more affected by extreme poverty and have shorter life expectancy on average. “There is a better recognition of the rights of indigenous peoples, but now, obviously, needs to be implemented”, analyzes Paulo David.
Globally, indigenous peoples’ lands concentrate 80% of remaining biodiversity. According to Paulo David, “The situation of climate change highlights the strength and knowledge of indigenous peoples. And I hope that all stakeholders in climate change will pay more attention to indigenous peoples in the coming years. Because they are ultimately the custodians. The forest. They are the custodians of the earth, more than we know how to manage it. , they know how to manage it. They have a lot of advice to give us.”
Crimes and memory work
In 2021, Canada is in shock after the remains of hundreds of children are found near former Indian residential schools. Over the years, tens of thousands of Amerindian, Inuit or Métis children were forcibly taken from their families, often sent to boarding schools run by Catholic clergy. Many former residents have testified to all kinds of abuse they experienced in these institutions.
“What happened in Canada and other countries is certainly crimes against humanity and genocide, but it is up to the courts to decide,” said Paulo David. According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigative work, made public in 2015, 6,000 children died in Canadian residential schools, the last of which closed in 1996.
Elsa Anginolfi
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