In Brazil, the government has put the fate of uncontacted tribes in the hands of a Christian pastor with a mission to evangelize, threatening the tribes’ survival. In French Guiana, illegal miners from Brazil are pouring over the border to invade indigenous lands. In Kenya, the Maasai face potential food shortages, and lack health services, clean water, and soap and masks to protect themselves.
Many indigenous and local communities lack secure land rights, making it harder for us to close our territories to the threat. And everywhere, the pandemic is being used as an excuse to limit civil liberties and rights.
As I near the end of my tenure as UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, I am holding my breath, knowing that so many lives—indigenous and not—are in danger. Governments have not prioritized protecting us from the health threats that so often arrive from beyond our borders. And the outcome often looks like genocide—or it is.
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