• Indigenous peoples in Russia

    Indigenous peoples in Russia

    Of the more than 180 peoples inhabiting the territory of contemporary Russia, 40 are officially recognised as indigenous. While the Russian constitution and national legislation set out the rights of “indigenous minority peoples of the North”, there is no such concept as “Free, Prior and Informed Consent” enshrined in legislation.
  • Home
  • Russia
  • Russia: Ministry in charge of indigenous affairs to be dissolved

Russia: Ministry in charge of indigenous affairs to be dissolved

According Russian media reports, President Putin has accepted a proposal by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to dissolve the Federal Ministry of Regional Development. Among others, the Minregion, as it is commonly known, is in charge of affairs of indigenous peoples and other non-Russian ethnic groups.


The decree signed by president Putin on 8 September stipulates, that these competences will be moved over to the Ministry of Culture. Indigenous peoples commenting the news in social networks expressed their outrage, noting that this indicates that henceforth indigenous affairs will be reduced to sponsorship for "singing and dancing", whereas rights, land and development would be off the table.

This concern is aggravated by the fact, that Arctic affairs will be handed over to the Ministry of Economic Development, indicating a renewed emphasis on industrial exploitation of Arctic resources, without consideration for the inherent rights of the region's indigenous inhabitant.

Indigenous representatives have long denounced the inefficiency of the Ministry of Regional Development. They have been advocating the creation of a dedicated goverment body fully mandated to address indigenous affairs with indigenous peoples' full and effective participation. The Kremlin's latest measure is a step in the opposite direction.

Tags: Press releases

STAY CONNECTED

About IWGIA

IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.

For media inquiries click here

Indigenous World

IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for Indigenous Peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.

Subscribe to our newsletter

Contact IWGIA

Prinsessegade 29 B, 3rd floor
DK 1422 Copenhagen
Denmark
Phone: (+45) 53 73 28 30
E-mail: iwgia@iwgia.org
CVR: 81294410

Report possible misconduct, fraud, or corruption

 instagram social icon facebook_social_icon.png   youtuble_logo_icon.png  linkedin_social_icon.png  

NOTE! This site uses cookies and similar technologies.

If you do not change browser settings, you agree to it. Learn more

I understand

Joomla! Debug Console

Session

Profile Information

Memory Usage

Database Queries