News from Survival International

Two years after Andaman tribe dies, another 'faces extinction'

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 10:27:00 +0000

Boa Sr died exactly two years ago. She was the last member of the Bo tribe.
© Anvita Abbi/Survival

Two years after India’s Andaman Islands lost the last speaker of ‘Bo’, a leading linguist has warned the Jarawa could face a similar fate unless the road running through their reserve is closed.

Professor Anvita Abbi specializes in endangered languages, and has recently published a dictionary documenting four of the oldest ones in the world.

She said, ‘unless we develop alternative sea routes, we cannot safeguard the life, culture, language and identity of one of the oldest civilizations on earth.’

Her stark prediction comes exactly two years after the death of Boa Sr, which led to the extinction of ‘Bo’, one of ten Great Andamanese languages.

The Great Andamanese were neighbours of the Jarawa, until the Indian government forcibly resettled them to Strait Island in 1970.

They once numbered 5,000. There are now 56.

Before her death, Boa Sr lamented the loss of her language to Anvita Abbi. She confided, ‘the Jarawa are lucky as they shun contact with city dwellers. It is so nice to see they’re not dependent on outsiders for food and shelter. Our boys know nothing about hunting and cannot feed themselves.’

To mark the two-year anniversary of her death, Survival has released unique video of Boa Sr talking about the importance of holding on to a language:

Lost Forever
The late Boa Sr talks in Bo (her native tongue) and Hindi about her dying language. © Anvita Abbi/ELAR

She said, ‘If they don’t speak to me now, what will they do once I’ve passed away? Don’t forget our language, grab hold of it.’

Anvita Abbi said to Survival that Boa Sr, ‘had no idea the Jarawa would soon face the same fate as the Great Andamanese.’

Jarawa girls in clothes given to them by outsiders who can enter the reserve through an illegal road.
© Survival

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘At a time when evidence of human safaris has prompted global outrage, it’s vital the Indian government closes the Andaman Trunk Road. Whilst Minister Chidambaram’s public statement not to ‘thrust or impose anything on the tribe’ is deeply encouraging, the only way to truly guarantee this is by closing the road. The legacy of Boa Sr’s death should be enough of a warning.’

German travel industry warns Samburu eviction could harm Kenya tourism

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:19:00 +0000

A Samburu girl from Kenya. The tribe has suffered violent evictions.
© Adrian Arbib/Survival

The German travel industry has called on Kenya to find a solution to the recent evictions of the Samburu tribe, and warned its position as a tourist destination could be damaged. Germans currently spend more money abroad than any other nation.

In a letter to President Mwai Kibaki, the head of the German Travel Association (known by its German initials DRV) expressed his ‘great concern’ at the current situation in Kenya’s Laikipia district.

Read the letter to Kenya’s President (pdf, 442 KB)

A series of violent evictions by Kenya’s police have forced thousands of Samburu from the area known as Eland Downs. Houses were burnt, people assaulted and livestock stolen.

Samburu children from Kenya.
© Samburu Watch/Survival

The evictions follow the purchase of the land by two conservation charities – The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF).

They have promoted the 17,100 hectares as a chance for Kenya to create its ‘newest national park’, and ‘stimulate tourism’.

DRV’s President Jürgen Büchy said its members considered Kenya ‘an important destination’, but that it was crucial tourism was carried out sustainably.

He said, ‘tourism development at the expense of human rights and local communities…does not find the support of the German travel industry’.

The DRV represents 80 percent of Germany’s tour operators and travel agents. In 2010 Germans spent over 60 billion euros on foreign trips, more than any other nation.

Büchy called on Kenya’s government to allow the ‘Samburu to reinstall in the Eland Downs and to give them a part in the preservation of the wildlife in Laikipia.’

Kenya’s government has not yet responded to The German Travel Association.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ’It’s really encouraging the German travel industry is taking the issue of human rights in Kenya so seriously. It’s a stark warning to the Kenyan government that the international community will not tolerate human rights abuses in the name of tourism. The Samburu should be allowed to return to their land, and any tourism that occurs on that land should happen with their consent.’

The burnt remains of Samburu homes in Kenya following police evictions
© Channel 4 Dispatches

Further threats as Guarani Indians remember murdered leader

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:18:04 +0000

Nísio Gomes, a Guarani shaman shot dead by gunmen
© Survival

Guarani Indians in Brazil have come under further threat since gunmen murdered their leader Nísio Gomes last November.

The Guarani of Guaviry community have reported that a non-indigenous man who claimed to be employed by a local rancher approached the Indians last week, threatening that they would be attacked by gunmen again.

Gomes was brutally killed after he led his community to reoccupy its ancestral land, which is now occupied by ranchers. The authorities are investigating the case.

Several other Guarani have since been intimidated by a hitlist of prominent leaders.

Many Guarani communities are living in appalling conditions since much of their land has been occupied by cattle ranches and soya and sugarcane plantations.

Guarani leaders who fight for the land to be returned to their communities are often subject to violence. Several leaders have been killed, and their assassins are seldom arrested.

In a recent statement, Guarani remembered some of Gomes’s words: ‘We must never give up fighting for our ancestral land… to save many lives and the future of our children. We must never abandon our land, because we belong to it.’

The Guarani have stated, ‘We want the authorities to arrest those responsible for the attack… If the Brazilian government does not act, we fear that Guaviry and other Guarani communities will suffer more violence’.

Survival is calling on the Brazilian government to fulfill its responsibility to map out and recognize all Guarani land for the Indians’ exclusive use.

‘Evidence of attack’ discovered where Indian child was reportedly ‘burned alive’

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 09:47:01 +0000

An Awá man whose uncontacted relatives were victims of an alleged attack by loggers
© Survival

An investigation into the reported killing of an uncontacted Indian child by loggers, has uncovered disturbing ‘evidence of an attack’ deep in the Amazon forest.

The findings suggest loggers were operating 400 meters away from an uncontacted Awá camp where the burned remains of a child were allegedly found.

Brazilian NGO CIMI, The Order of Attorneys of Brazil and the Maranhão Human Rights Society, who jointly carried out the investigation, also found, ‘many indications that the Awá had been in the place of the reported incident.’

The team discovered the remains of four fires, as well as clear evidence of the Awá’s search for honey, and bindings used to help them climb trees.

However, CIMI says, ‘loggers’ tractors drove over the Awá’s camp, destroying everything. From the signs we can say that it was a large vehicle.’

The uncontacted Awá live in Brazil’s Amazon in an indigenous territory, but illegal logging is destroying much of their forest.

On the Edge

Brazil’s Awá tribe rely on their forest home for survival but intensive logging poses a serious threat to their future.

CIMI believes around four families lived at the camp, 6 kilometers away from members of the Guajajara tribe, who reported the body’s discovery.

Clovis Guajajara told the delegation he was, ‘very upset about the destruction’ and believed the Awá were scared away when they saw the loggers’ clearing.

A loggers' camp found by CIMI 400 meters from uncontacted Awá
© Gilderlan Rodrigues/CIMI MA

The Brazilian government’s Indian Affairs Department, FUNAI, is conducting its own investigation, and says the child’s death has not been confirmed.

The Awá have suffered brutal attacks at the hands of loggers who have threatened to kill them.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian government to evict the vast numbers of illegal loggers who risk wiping out one of the world’s last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes.

Note to Editors:

Google maps locating the uncontacted Awá camp, loggers’ clearing and the Guajajara village are available on request.

Revealed: Andaman authorities alerted to human safaris two years ago

Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:26:00 +0000

Vehicles queue to enter the Jarawa reserve along the Andaman Trunk Road
© G Chamberlain/ Survival

The Andaman authorities were alerted to the existence of human safaris two years ago by Survival International – but the problem has continued.

On January 11, 2010, Survival wrote to the Lieutenant Governor of the Islands, warning him that ‘a number of tour operators are promoting tours which include sightings of, or encounters with, the Jarawa tribe .’

Survival received no response to the letter or subsequent appeals, even after launching a boycott of the Andaman Trunk Road with local organization Search.

In July 2011, Survival wrote again as a matter of ‘great urgency’, in response to ‘severe international concern about the Jarawa’s predicament and the threat that tourists pose’, but still the problem continued.

Four months ago, a complaint was also lodged by social worker Arvind Rai Sharma, after he saw a tour company’s promotional video of Jarawa women and children being ‘humiliated in front of tourists’.

Speaking to Survival, he said, ‘I personally handed in the letter to the Andaman authorities, and met the Director of Tribal Welfare. But they still did not take my complaint seriously, even though it was such a sensitive matter’.

Tourist films Jarawa on the Andaman Trunk Road
© Survival

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘It’s extraordinary that the local government appears only now to realize the extent of these ‘human safaris’. Survival first wrote to the administration in 2010 to highlight the issue. If they’re serious about finally tackling this problem, they need to close the Andaman Trunk Road, ten years after the Supreme Court told them to. It’s the only real solution.’

Read Survival’s letters to the Andaman administration from 2010 (pdf, 294 KB) and 2011 (pdf, 229 KB)

Read Arvind Rai Sharma’s letter to the Andaman administration (pdf, 5.3 MB)

'Mainstreaming' the Jarawa would be a disaster says Survival International

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 08:54:00 +0000

Tourist films Jarawa on the Andaman Trunk Road
© Survival

Any attempt to ‘mainstream’ the Jarawa by force would be a disaster, said Survival International, in a statement today. ‘By mainstreaming, what the authorities really mean is the assimilation of the Jarawa into national society,’ said Sophie Grig, Senior Campaigner with Survival.

In the wake of the controversy over ‘human safaris’, both the BJP and the Minister of Tribal Affairs, V Kishore Chandra Deo, have called for the Jarawa to be ‘mainstreamed’, with the Minister reportedly describing the lives of the Jarawa as ‘beastly’.

But forcibly assimilating tribal people into national society has been viewed as unacceptable by the international community for decades. Its catastrophic impact on tribal peoples has been widely acknowledged; no government in the Americas has advocated assimilation for more than thirty years.

Progress Can Kill, a report by Survival International shows that when tribal people around the world have been forced into the ‘mainstream’, rates of disease, depression, addiction and suicide soar.

Survival’s Campaigner Sophie Grig said today, ‘Minister Deo must move away from the idea that tribes will inevitably end up ‘mainstreamed’ or that their life is ‘primitive’ or ‘beastly’. The Jarawa have thrived in their forests for more than 55,000 years – they may be poor in monetary terms but their health and quality of life is visibly better than that of the Great Andamanese tribes who’ve been given the ‘benefits’ of the ‘mainstream’. The Jarawa’s land and its resources must be protected so that they can continue to live in, and from, their forest and only they must decide and control what, if any, ‘developments’ or changes they want’.

Undercover audio tape proves Andaman ‘human safaris’ continue

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 08:44:39 +0000

Vehicles queue to enter the Jarawa reserve along the Andaman Trunk Road
© G Chamberlain/ Survival

A secret recording of a tour operator in the Andaman Islands telling an undercover journalist to provide 10-15,000 rupees (£120-180/ $180-275) to pay off the police proves that the now notorious ‘human safaris’ are still happening, and provides fresh evidence of police involvement in the scandal.

The tape (mp3 audio file) was recorded last month by journalist Gethin Chamberlain.

Undercover recording from the Andaman Islands. Recording by Gethin Chamberlain.

Asked how much a trip to see the Jarawa tribe would cost, the Port Blair-based tour operator says, ‘For the trip, uh, vehicle and… all like 25 to 30,000 like that. Because the policeman take 10 to 15 like that. And vehicle and some gift to the tribals also… like fruits, biscuits…’

Stung by the international outrage that has greeted these disclosures, some in the islands’ administration have claimed that the video was shot ten years ago, before precautions were put in place – but the new audio recording proves that they continue today.

Survival International first revealed the existence of the ‘human safaris’ in 2010.

In response to the latest revelations, one of the leading experts on the Andaman Island tribes, Professor Anvita Abbi of Jawaharlal Nehru University, has said, ‘This happened in the knowledge of the authorities. How can the administration claim they have no knowledge of this?’

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This recording provides concrete proof that human safaris are still occurring. The only reason that they are still occurring is because of the Andaman Trunk Road through the Jarawa reserve. Ten years after the Indian Supreme Court ordered the road to be closed, it’s shocking that the Andaman Administration is defying this order by keeping it open. The government could end human safaris today – by closing the road.’

Undercover Human Safari recording transcript. December 2011

Man: There is the, if you want, two procedure… one is, the illegal, you go on the… on the… way on the road Baratang, in the, in the vehicle four-wheeler. That time (if) the vehicle is less vehicle, traffic will be less, then easily you can meet and taking photograph (unclear).

If the traffic is more, back side also car, front also car, bus, then it’s not possible. ..(unclear) sit in the vehicle, go and come back from that place.

(Unclear… for easy one… now, not…) How many days you stay here?

Gethin: Three or four.

Man: Three or four days. Ah… visit in next time because we can arrangement with the police department. He taking some money. You can get duty on there.

Gethin: Is it safe? Am I going to get arrested? (laughs)

Man: No it’s a (unclear). No no not like that, we can safely… we can give the money safely. Because there that is the security man of that tribal.

Gethin: (noise – okay? Yeah?)

Man: You understand?

Gethin: Yeah.

Man: You can attach with that person, deal with that person, who are the… who will be the safeguard of tribal.

Gethin: Yeah.

Man: You can consult with them. You give… you take some money (loud car noise… unclear) give to the tribal…

Gethin: then?

Man: Then you ask, ask, 10,000 15,000 like that, money. That…

Gethin: It’s a lot of money.

Man: Then you can meeting, take your time, and come back.

Gethin: How long do you go for?

Man: You go early morning 4 o clock from this place and next day come back.

Gethin: How much (unclear)?

Man: For the trip, uh, vehicle and… all like (unclear) 25 to 30,000 like that. Because the policeman take 10 to 15 like that. And vehicle and some gift to the tribals also… like fruits, biscuits… you can take some gift items too.

Loggers invade tribal home of Amazon Indian child 'burned alive'

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 09:34:11 +0000

Awá men travel down a road cut by loggers.
© Uirá Garcia

Loggers have invaded the Amazon home of uncontacted Awá Indians, one of whom has reportedly been ‘burned alive’.

Members of the Guajajara tribe, which also inhabits the area, have said that they came across the burned remains of an Awá child in the forest, following an attack by loggers, according to Brazilian NGO CIMI.

Clovis Guajajara, who sometimes sees the Awá in the forest whilst hunting, has reportedly said that he has not seen them since the alleged attack, and he believes they have fled.

The Brazilian government’s Indian Affairs Department, FUNAI, has told Survival that it is conducting an investigation into the reports, and that the child’s death has not been confirmed.

At least 60 uncontacted Awá Indians are thought to live in this part of the north-eastern Brazilian Amazon – they are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Brazil. The Awá rely on their forest to survive, but vast numbers of loggers are illegally invading their land, which now suffers one of the highest deforestation rates in the Amazon.

On the Edge

Brazil’s Awá tribe rely on their forest home for survival but intensive logging poses a serious threat to their future.

More than 30% of one of the Awá’s territories has already been destroyed.

Luis Carlos Guajajara told Survival today, ‘There are uncontacted Awá in the area and the loggers are pressurising them. The loggers’ presence is very dangerous. Indians in the area are scared.’

The Awá have recently suffered a series of brutal attacks, and loggers have warned that the Indians will be killed if they go into their forest.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian authorities to evict the invaders from the Awá’s land before the devastation puts the Indians’ lives further at risk.

Police involvement in ‘human safaris’ exposed in the Andaman Islands

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:14:50 +0000

British newspaper The Observer has revealed evidence of police involvement in ‘human safaris’ in India’s Andaman Islands.

The scandal, first exposed by Survival in 2010, involves tourists using an illegal road to enter the reserve of the Jarawa tribe. Tour companies and cab drivers ‘attract’ the Jarawa with biscuits and sweets.

The Observer has obtained a video showing a group of Jarawa women being ordered to dance for tourists by a policeman, who had reportedly accepted a £200 bribe to take them into the reserve.

One tourist has previously described a similar trip: ‘The journey through tribal reserve was like a safari ride as we were going amidst dense tropical rainforest and looking for wild animals, Jarawa tribals to be specific’.

In recent weeks the Islands’ administration has again ruled out closing the road, known as the Andaman Trunk Road revealed for the first time that it plans to open an alternative route by sea to bypass most of the Jarawa reserve.

Survival has called for tourists to boycott the road, which the Supreme Court ordered closed in 2002. Working with a local organization, SEARCH, Survival has distributed leaflets to tourists arriving at the Islands’ airport warning of the dangers of using the road.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This story reeks of colonialism and the disgusting and degrading ‘human zoos’ of the past. Quite clearly, some people’s attitudes towards tribal peoples haven’t moved on a jot. The Jarawa are not circus ponies bound to dance at anyone’s bidding.’

Christmas reindeer mystery as world’s largest herd plummets

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 10:10:00 +0000

The world’s largest reindeer herd has plummeted in size, with local indigenous people blaming the spread of massive industrial projects in the area.

The George River herd, which once numbered 8-900,000 animals, stands today at just 74,000 – a drop of up to 92%.

The herd roams the vast tundra of Quebec and Labrador in eastern Canada. Known as caribou in North America, the animals are central to the culture of the Cree and Innu people of the region.

However, in recent decades large parts of the herd’s range have been disrupted by a series of huge projects. Iron-ore mining, flooding vast areas for hydro-power and road-building have all taken their toll, according to Innu people.

Innu Elder and Chief Georges-Ernest Gregoire told Survival today, ’The caribou (reindeer) is central to our culture, our spiritual beliefs and to our society as hunters that have lived on our homeland, Nitassinan [Quebec-Labrador peninsula], for thousands of years.

‘But all the massive industrial “development” projects that have been imposed on our land in the last forty years have undoubtedly had a cumulative impact on the size of the caribou herd. That is why we need real control over our territories and resources, and why we must be involved as equals in decisions that affect our lands and the animals that live there.’

Another Innu man, Alex Andrew, stated, ‘Our elders say that the animals will be the first to feel the effects of all this damage. The food chain cycle will be broken and many will suffer in the end.

‘And so much development like hydropower, mining, roads, forestry, will be only adding to the dilemma that is facing the animals’ survival.’

Survival International’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If we really do care about the real impact the natural world has on us and vice-versa – rather than just watching it on television – it’s time to start listening to tribal peoples. They know what they’re talking about. For the Innu, reindeer aren’t just for Christmas.’

See Survival’s beautiful photo gallery on the reindeer-herding Sami people

Notes to Editors:

The results of the most recent survey of the herd’s size were announced here.

Jumma woman killed as tension mounts in Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh

Fri, 16 Dec 2011 12:17:03 +0000

A Jumma tribal woman, Chigon Mila Chakma, was killed in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh when settlers attacked Jummas at a market on Wednesday. At least ten Jummas, the indigenous inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, were injured in the attack.

Sources report that the death of Bengali settler Abdus Sattar triggered the violence, although there is no suggestion that the Jummas who were attacked were involved in his murder. The response appears to have been an indiscriminate attack against the Jumma community because Sattar was last seen carrying two Jumma passengers on his motorbike.

The government of Bangladesh has moved hundred of thousands of settlers into the region, home to eleven tribes, known collectively as Jummas. The settlers have displaced many of the Jumma tribal people, who have also been subjected to violent repression by the army.

The attack comes at a time when the government of Bangladesh has imposed restrictions on the activities of the Jumma peoples. According to new rules, foreign nationals are banned from holding discussions with any indigenous or religious groups in the region without the presence of a government officer.

Guarani man dies of gunshot wound following attack

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:28:06 +0000

A Guarani Indian from central Brazil has died of his injuries, two years after his community was attacked by gunmen.

Rosalino Lopes, 50, was shot in the abdomen and left paralyzed when his community, Pyelito Kuê, was attacked in 2009.

The gunmen were allegedly employed by the ranchers now occupying the Guarani’s land.

Before he died, Lopes said, ‘I am dying for the ancestral land where I was born. I wanted to return to Pyelito Kuê and live there with my family… Let all our indigenous relatives, and the authorities, know that the wound I received from the gunmen is killing me. I can’t go on any longer’.

The attack followed an attempt by Lopes’s community to reoccupy their land. A more recent attempt at reoccupation also resulted in violence: earlier this year, truckloads of armed men invaded the community, set houses on fire and left several people seriously injured.

The Guarani have been suffering increasing levels of aggression and threats in recent months, as gunmen are targeting prominent leaders who are reported to be named on a hit list.

Last month, gunmen executed a Guarani man in front of his community.

In recent decades, vast areas of Guarani land have been taken from the Indians, to make way for cattle ranching and soya and sugarcane plantations.

The Brazilian government is responsible for mapping out the Guarani’s land and returning it to them, but this process has come to a near stand-still.

Meanwhile, the Guarani are living in appalling conditions, with disease, malnutrition, violence and suicide rife.

Survival is lobbying the Brazilian authorities and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to ensure that urgent measures are taken to protect the Guarani.

Download Survival’s report to the UN, outlining the Guarani’s plight.