Human rights minister asks for more security in Yanomami crisis – 01/30/2023 – Panel

The Minister of Human Rights, Silvio Luiz de Almeida, sent a letter to the Minister of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, asking for the permanent presence of federal security forces in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, in order to guarantee the integrity of local leaders and health teams working in the humanitarian crisis in the region.

On an emergency basis, it also requests the use of the National Force to support the PF (Federal Police) in the activities that will be carried out on the next 1st and 2nd of February, in the raids that will be carried out in the municipalities of Roraima.

In the document, the MDH warns the MJ that, based on listening to local leaders, it was possible to verify “a concrete and imminent risk to their physical integrity and life”, aggravated by the federal government’s announcement of the withdrawal of miners from Yanomami land.

“At the time, several leaders mentioned that the risk situation to which they are subject is public knowledge, including by state security authorities, without any concrete measures having been taken to ensure their protection and that of their communities. Reports have also been presented that gold miners have been threatening the health teams that travel to distribute medicines and rescue sick people, making it difficult or even preventing the adoption of emergency health measures”, reports Almeida.

He also asks that the Federal Police be urged to intensify intelligence actions in the region and share the reports with the Ministries of Justice and Human Rights, which are responsible for protecting activists in this area.

Additionally, it suggests the elaboration of an Emergency Plan to disintrude miners who, according to the reports, are preventing the care of indigenous children in regions accessible only by helicopter, and the assessment of the need to initiate investigations to determine the involvement of local authorities with the the illegal activity.

The Yanomami territory suffers from an increase in malaria and chronic childhood malnutrition, which affects 80% of children up to five years old, according to a recent study funded by Unicef ​​and carried out in partnership with Fiocruz (Oswaldo Cruz Foundation) and the Ministry of Health.

There are still signs, verified by representatives of the federal government, of verminoses and respiratory diseases.

The action of illegal mining in the Yanomami Indigenous Land is at the heart of the current crisis. According to Inpe (National Institute for Space Research), mining in the region led to the deforestation of 232 hectares of the Amazon forest in 2022 alone, an increase of 24.7% compared to the index registered in the previous year (186 hectares).

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