We share news linked to global processes, the indigenous peoples' movement and IWGIA's work in countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Find news, interviews, human rights alerts, new publications and reports here.
Over the last few years, mining activities in the Kaka River have intensified and the use of mercury to amalgamate the precious metal has increased. The Leco indigenous peoples grow their food and fish in these polluted lands and waters. Even though the risks are clear, no research has been carried out to determine how much the health of the community is affected and exposed, and there are no public policies to take care of them.
In addition to open-pit coal mining, which has had a major impact on Shors, a small-numbered Indigenous group from South Siberia, gold mining companies are also expropriating Indigenous Peoples’ lands where they have led their traditional lifestyles for centuries, polluting the environment, and destroying Indigenous cultural sites. The companies involved in gold mining neither follow Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) processes, nor pay taxes in the municipalities where they operate. Thus gold mining not only puts at risk the very survival of the Shor traditional way of life and livelihoods, but also doesn’t benefit them in any way economically.
Encroachment onto Indigenous Lands has increased under Jair Bolsonaro’s government and is threatening the communities’ culture, economy and ways of life. Numerous bills are now passing through Congress in response to the need for extractivism and these will affect traditional Indigenous occupation. In turn, the presence of “garimpos” or informal gold miners on the territories is spreading malaria and Covid-19, placing further strain on an already wholly inadequate health system. The possibility of genocide is now a real and impending threat.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
Indigenous World
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.
