The Indigenous World 2023: Suriname

Written on 28 March 2023. Posted in Suriname

The Indigenous Peoples of Suriname number approximately 20,344 people, or 3.8% of the total population of 541,638^[i] (census 2012). The four most numerous Indigenous Peoples are the Kaliña (Carib), Lokono (Arawak), Trio (Tirio, Tareno) and Wayana. In addition, there are small settlements of other Amazonian Indigenous Peoples, mostly in the south of Suriname, including the Akoerio, Warao, Apalai, Wai-Wai, Okomoyana, Mawayana, Katuena, Tunayana, Pireuyana, Sikiiyana, Alamayana, Maraso, Awayakule, Sirewu, Upuruy, Sarayana, Kasjoeyana, Murumuruyo, Kukuyana, Piyanakoto and Sakëta.

The Kaliña and Lokono live mainly in the northern part of the country and are sometimes referred to as “lowland” Indigenous Peoples, whereas the Trio, Wayana and other Amazonian peoples live in the south and are referred to as “highland” peoples.

The legislative system of Suriname, based on colonial legislation, does not recognize Indigenous or Tribal Peoples, and Suriname has no legislation governing Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ land or other rights. This forms a major threat to the survival and well-being of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, particularly given the strong focus that is being placed on Suriname’s many natural resources (including oil, bauxite, gold, water, forests and biodiversity). Suriname is one of the few countries in South America that has not ratified ILO Convention 169. It did vote in favour of adopting the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

This article is part of the 37^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous person in Tanzania. This photo was taken by Geneviève Rose, and is the cover of the Indigenous World 2023 where this article is featured. Find the Indigenous World 2023 in full here.

Legislative developments

The Government of Suriname, headed by President Chandrikapersad Santokhi, submitted a draft law^[ii] on the Collective Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Tribal Peoples in Suriname to the National Assembly (the unicameral Parliament of Suriname) in June 2021. The National Assembly subsequently appointed an internal “commission of rapporteurs”, which commenced a lengthy consultation process on this draft with various stakeholders over a number of months, interpreted by many as intentional delay. The National Assembly then contracted a group of external legal experts to review the feedback received from stakeholders, and this group presented its findings in November 2022. It was expected that the draft law would thereafter be tabled formally for debate and eventual approval; however, this did not happen until the end of January 2023. The draft law put forward for discussion contained surprising amendments^[iii] to the original draft, points that were reportedly not recommendations from the feedback nor from the external expert group but last minute changes from members of parliament. Even members of the Committee of Rapporteurs itself expressed their surprise and disapproval of the introduced changes, which are deemed contrary to the actual recognition of land rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples. The chairperson of the Commission announced that the amended draft would again be sent out for consultation and further debate on the draft was suspended without fixing a timeframe for future discussion.

It may thus take a while longer before the draft law is seriously debated and approved. Meanwhile, the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of Suriname and their rights, including land rights, remain unrecognized and unprotected. In spite of rhetorical promises, the current government has continued to issue land and concession rights within Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ territories, causing various outbursts of protest.^[iv]

While apparently delaying the debate on the Collective Rights bill, another legislative product was swiftly tabled for approval in the National Assembly, in spite of protests from Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ organizations, in particular, who feel this law will open the door to individual and large land ownership in their (yet unrecognized) territories. The draft law on “Land Conversion”^[v] will permit the conversion of land lease titles into full property titles which, once issued, will be very hard to withdraw or expropriate, in contrast with the current land lease titles. It is an open secret that many land lease titles have been issued in the interior of Suriname, which is home to the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples, and converting those into property titles will make recognition of their collective land rights even more complex if not impossible. Both Indigenous^[vi] and Tribal Peoples submitted petitions to Parliament to halt any debate on the Land Conversion draft law until their collective land rights have been legally recognized, and stressed that the current conception of “domain land belongs to the State” was contradictory to international law and particularly the judgements of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which has required Suriname to legally recognize the collective property rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples over their ancestral territories. The protests may have helped (temporarily?) and the discussion on the draft law on Land Conversion was suspended in favour of commencing discussions in Parliament on the 2023 Government Budget. Fear does, meanwhile, remain that it will be pushed through.

Other developments

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, visited^[vii] Pierrekondre-Kumbasi, an Indigenous community in Suriname, in July 2022, on the fringes of his visit to a Caribbean Community (Caricom) summit that was held in Suriname during the country’s presidency of Caricom. On that occasion, the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname (VIDS, its abbreviation in Dutch) and the coordinating body for Tribal Peoples, KAMPOS, at handed over and read out an appeal^[viii] to him requesting his attention on the insecure legal position of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Suriname, as well as the impacts of climate change, which was the focus of his visit to Caricom and Suriname. The Secretary General ensured VIDS of his support for these aspects and made corresponding statements in the Surinamese media and through his own channels.^[ix]

The Suriname government established a National SDG Platform^[x] consisting of representatives of the UN Major Groups in July 2022. The SDG Platform initially consisted of a core group but is to be expanded to other major groups in 2023. Its task will be, among others, to monitor Suriname’s achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

During a live broadcast speech^[xi] on 19 December 2022 by Prime Minister Mark Rutte in The Hague, the Government of the Netherlands offered its formal excuses to the descendants of all enslaved persons during its colonial past, and announced the start of further dialogue with relevant organizations in Suriname and in the Netherlands Antilles. This apology followed a critical report “Chains of the Past” on the role of the Netherlands in the slave trade, and recommended “recognition, excuses and repair” for the role of the Kingdom in slavery. As representative and institute of the traditional authorities of the Indigenous Peoples in Suriname, VIDS declined^[xii] the invitation of the Dutch Embassy in Suriname to attend the broadcast of the speech in Paramaribo, stating that it had never been consulted nor involved in this apology and did not want to give any impression of approval of or support for this apology without having gone through the traditional process of full information and consultation with its communities. It is expected that the Dutch Embassy in Suriname will hold a meeting with VIDS on this matter in 2023.

The expected oil and gas boom in Suriname seems further away than initially expected, after oil finds in 2020 in Suriname's territorial sea caused much speculation. Big oil companies such as Total Energies and Apache Oil have delayed their final investment decision (FID), according to^[xiii] the Suriname State Oil company, because of the complex properties of the seabed, with a great deal of clay. Potential first oil harvesting is not now expected before 2027. VIDS had expressed concern at the impacts of the oil industry and related spin-off effects on the lands and resources of the Indigenous Peoples in Suriname, and its potential for widening rather than closing the development gap between the coastal regions and the interior of Suriname.

Policy and economic reform measures taken by the Government of Suriname, many of which are requirements of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for support from its Extended Support Facility,^[xiv] are taking a heavy toll on the country’s already impoverished population. VIDS expressed its concern at the impacts of the government’s economic recovery programme during its Eighth General Conference in August 2022. The social safety net measures, in particular, are apparently focused predominantly on fiscal and other measures benefiting urban citizens, and disregarding the interior Indigenous and Tribal Peoples’ population, which has little formal employment and finds it increasingly difficult to participate in the national economy due to the disproportionate impacts of rising prices, especially transport, in those deep rural areas.

The IMF approved a support package under its Extended Fund Facility to the amount of USD 688 million over three years (with an immediate disbursement of USD 55.1 million)^[xv] in support of the Suriname government’s recovery and growth plan. VIDS expressed its concern that the economic adjustment measures would be felt hardest in the interior communities and requested special attention from the government to mitigate the impacts.^[xvi]

VIDS,^[xvii] as the traditional authority of all Indigenous Peoples in Suriname, celebrated its Eighth General Conference in Washabo, West Suriname, in August 2022. During this five-yearly conference, attended by approximately 200 representatives (chiefs, women and youth) from practically all Indigenous villages in Suriname, the multi-annual policy programme for the coming five years was discussed and approved. A new Board was also appointed for VIDS by consensus, for the first time ever headed by a female village leader, Muriel Fernandes^[xviii] of Cassipora village. The VIDS Board consists of nine regional representatives, all chiefs of their respective villages, who are appointed by consensus (and not through elections) and upon recommendation of the respective regions. The closing ceremony was attended^[xix] by the President of Suriname, who received the Resolutions of the Conference^[xx] and promised to install a working group to implement the decisions contained therein. The Presidential Working Group was indeed established in early 2023.

Max Ooft is Policy Officer at the Bureau of the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname (Vereniging van Inheemse Dorpshoofden in Suriname, VIDS).

This article is part of the 37^th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of an Indigenous person in Tanzania. This photo was taken by Geneviève Rose, and is the cover of the Indigenous World 2023 where this article is featured. Find the Indigenous World 2023 in full here.

Notes and references

^[i] The population is highly ethnically and religiously diverse, consisting of Hindustani (27.4%), Maroons (“Bush negroes”, 21.7%), Creoles (16%), Javanese (14%), mixed (13%), Indigenous Peoples (“Amerindians”, 3.8%) and Chinese (1.5%) (census 2012). At least 15 different languages are spoken on a daily basis in Suriname but the only official language is Dutch, while the lingua franca used in less formal conversations is Sranan Tongo (Surinamese).

^[ii] De Nationale Assemblée. ”VIDS vraagt voor de derde keer Wet Uitgifte Domeingrond aan te houden”. De Nationale Assemblée. https://dna.sr/media/322328/21_899__Pres._Sur.___Aanb._Wet_Collectieve_Rechten_Inheemse_en_Tribale_Volken.pdf

^[iii] Wet van houndende regels met betrekking tot collectieve rechten van Inheemse volken en de Tribale volken. (Raamwet Collectieve Rechten Inheemse Volken en de Tribale Volken). 31 January 2023. https://dna.sr/media/374445/23_208__am_23_02__Leden_A._Gajadien_e.a.__Aanb._Amendement_Raamwet_Collectieve_Rechten_Inheemse_en_Tribale_Volken.pdf

^[iv] “SURINAME-Indigenous groups call on the government to grant recognition of their lands”. Caribbean Times, 9 August 2022. https://caribbeantimes.com/suriname-indigenous-groups-call-on-the-government-to-grant-recognition-of-their-lands/; “Hollandse Kamp protesteert tegen gronduitgifte”. Star Nieuws, 25 January 2023. https://www.starnieuws.com/index.php/welcome/index/nieuwsitem/73948 & “Saramaccaners blijven fel gekant tegen bouw houttransportbrug”. SNC.com, 13 April 2022. https://surinamenieuwscentrale.com/saramaccaners-blijven-fel-gekant-tegen-bouw-houttransportbrug

^[v] De Nationale Assemblée. “Ontwerpwet wijz. Decreet Uitgifte Domeingrond”. De Nationale Assemblée. https://dna.sr/wetgeving/ontwerpwetten-bij-dna/in-behandeling/ontwerpwet-wijz-decreet-uitgifte-domeingrond/

^[vi] https://dna.sr/nieuws/vids-vraagt-voor-de-derde-keer-wet-uitgifte-domeingrond-aan-te-houden/

https://dna.sr/nieuws/de-marrongemeenschap-dient-petitie-in-aan-parlement/

^[vii] VIDS.” Trio-Inheemsen hebben nieuwe granman”. Facebook, 21 September 2021. https://www.facebook.com/VIDSSuriname/posts/1668099840050374?__cft__[0]=AZUbUWWikjCL6KFtIsmf1pi-sd4OL_HEGb11Y0T74WNjAoqG3CdPBbYeQuhDDWSV2Zl5Mg9-HNXLW20hFFv9pmgkfCeGryJBH0um6KXjJU4N2zqwMcRb01CK40rMo9xDs-ZfjdgB1vDiCQcQna-gXD7P9pgIQJf6jyf5xUOVFnuCD1M1CVKpQA0CHbE5KVreR-E&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

^[viii] VIDS. "VIDS overhandigt brief aan vn secretaries Generaal.” VIDS, 3 July 2022. https://vids.sr/vids-overhandigt-brief-aan-vn-secretaris-generaal/

^[ix] United Nations. “In Suriname, Secretary General António Guterres...” United Nations, 3 July 2022. https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1uvyqlzgo

^[x] Facebook. VIDS, https://cds.gov.sr/de-boodschap/sdg-platform-kent-brede-nationale-vertegenwoordiging/ & https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1u/k1uvyqlzgo

^[xi] Mark Rutte. “Government response to Ketenen van het verleden, the report of findings issued by the Advisory Board of the Slavery Past Dialogue”. 19 December 2022. https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/binaries/rijksoverheid/documenten/kamerstukken/2022/12/19/kamerbrief-met-reactie-kabinet-op-rapport-adviescollege-dialooggroep-slavernijverleden/Kamerbrief+met+reactie+kabinet+op+rapport+Adviescollege+Dialooggroep+Slavernijverleden+%28Engels%29.pdf

^[xii] VIDS. ”VIDS wijst uitnodiging nederlandse kabinetsreactie af”. VIDS, 19 December 2022. https://vids.sr/vids-wijst-uitnodiging-nederlandse-kabinetsreactie-af/

^[xiii] Ivan Cairo. “Geen offshore olie vóór 2027”. De Ware Tijd Online, 2 December 2022. https://dwtonline.com/geen-offshore-olie-voor-2027/

^[xiv] International Monetary Fund (IMF). ”Suriname and the IMF Reach Staff-Level Agreement on the Second Review of the Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility”. IMF, 17 May 2022. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2022/05/17/pr22157-suriname-and-imf-reach-staff-level-agreement-on-second-review-of-extended-arrangement

^[xv] IMF. “IMF Executive Board Approves Extended Arrangement Under the Extended Fund Facility for Suriname”. IMF, 22 December 2022. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2021/12/22/pr21400-imf-executive-board-approves-extended-arrangement-under-the-extended-fund-facility-suriname#:~:text=Washington%2C%20DC%20%3A%20The%20Executive%20Board,or%20366.8%20percent%20of%20quota)

^[xvi] VIDS. “Inheems gezagsorgaan bezorgd over situatie binnenland”. Facebook, 13 January 2022. https://www.facebook.com/VIDSSuriname/posts/1751714728355551?__cft__[0]=AZVNnYXVAYL5zfirYSRz_P7O7me4p6pjhZHT2IqslbGQJUhhfS4uWkjoUOcCIj9YBODawtu_g0y7MjKT-FYxA9rMP1avnnZNIKjGOea_jM1EsLtBcOd5S9uzQHQ93uw4C0SMMbVG9jfj7K-rzFAGcnSJFpAnCQYocG35Z3dI3np094JfGo3trKuRp9r2ofaj7TE&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

^[xvii] https://www.facebook.com/VIDSSuriname/

^[xviii] VIDS. “Muriel Fernandes nieuwe VIDS-voorzitter”. Facebook, 29 August 2022. https://www.facebook.com/VIDSSuriname/posts/pfbid037rX5g7441qkMqF9sDNBRukx1vm8Eqf8s5ZVrDe4ncZjHZ2vN2tKSGgfbgKuYVMcNl?__cft__[0]=AZW0eXXp6tGqHGZYtg5eb5owjKEmwcjFlxtdWSsmrnL6ROnZO0M8G2hrvjztI78Vn_CH6OzdN5QmF6DBZ7IIpTccoA6VXo53ObBnTU-Gv0kEc5CiympEeYT2xxvdCbm-cH63EkyfMLTY8zSP3Dr-oPqrJ1xKf2SdleuAGaDPcV7tlhpH0sXWHk_-H2WUdbaGbXot3jdQ8pizWjDCBsvisFkV&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R

^[xix] “President Santokhi bezoekt VIDS-conferentie”. Suriname Herald, 29 August 2022. https://www.srherald.com/suriname/2022/08/29/president-santokhi-bezoekt-vids-conferentie/

^[xx] VIDS. “Resolutions Eighth VIDS Conference”. Vids, 29 August 2022. https://vids.sr/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Resolutions-Eight-VIDS-Conference-EN.pdf

Tags: Global governance, Human rights