The threats to uncontacted tribes living in the most remote parts of the Amazon basin has been named an ‘issue of vital importance’ by the Amazon’s most prominent indigenous federation.
‘At risk are the individual and collective lives of indigenous peoples living in isolation and those recently contacted for the first time,’ a statement from COICA (Coordinator of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon basin) reads. ‘We will defend the rights of our indigenous brothers – no one else either in government or civil society is protecting them properly.’
The threats cited by COICA include oil and gas exploration, mining and logging. South American countries, COICA states, are putting the Amazon basin up ‘for sale’ without the consent of its inhabitants, and ignoring international law on indigenous peoples’ rights.
Uncontacted tribes are among the most vulnerable of all indigenous peoples because they lack immunity to outsiders’ diseases. First contact is almost always catastrophic, often leading to the death of a large proportion of a newly-contacted tribe.
Threats to uncontacted tribes deemed 'vital' issue by indigenous federation
March 10, 2008
Related news articles
- Sign tribal peoples’ law and help save rainforests – call for action on UN Indigenous Peoples’ Day - Thu August 06, 2009
- Two more indigenous leaders seek asylum - Fri July 10, 2009
- Indigenous organisation says Ombudsman's report not 'definitive' - Tue July 07, 2009
- Ombudsman's report says 33 people died in Amazon violence - Mon July 06, 2009
Most recent
- Global protests mark int’l day of action to #SaveHasdeo - Mon May 09, 2022
- Bushmen anger as beloved elder refused burial in Botswana game reserve - Mon April 25, 2022
- Venezuela and Brazil: Violence and destruction escalate in the Yanomami territory - Tue April 19, 2022
- India: massive coal mining expansion in tribal forests green-lighted - Wed April 13, 2022