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Yanomami humanitarian crisis

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During the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro (2019-2023), a series of mass deaths, famine, forced displacements and other major human rights violations took place in the Brazilian Yanomami Indigenous Territory.[1][2][3] Such events reportedly started or were aggravated from 2019 on as a consequence of rampant exploitation of natural resources by individuals and companies and government neglect, and have been frequently said to constitute a genocide against the Yanomami people.[4][5][6]

Background

After being elected in the 2018 Brazilian general elections and taking office under his pledge to loosen environmental policies, especially in the Brazilian Amazon region, then president Jair Bolsonaro repealed several presidential decrees banning illegal mining and illegal logging nationwide, and effectively dismantled environment protection agencies.[7][8][9]

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announces emergency measures to tackle the Yanomami humanitarian crisis.

In January 2023, following the end of Bolsonaro's administration due to his defeat in the 2022 Brazilian general elections, new government officials appointed by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took office and immediately were briefed about an escalation of the Yanomami crisis.[10]

Incidents

Government neglect, agricultural encroachment and illegal activities affecting the area precede the creation of the Yanomami reserve in 1992. The first contacts between the Yanomami indigenous peoples and white men scatterly happened between 1910 and 1940; in the following two decades, such contacts increased due to religious missions based in the region, and road construction works and mining projects conducted by the military regime began in the area in the 1970's, during which the first reports of epidemics especially of flu, measles and whooping cough emerged linked to the decimation of entire Yanomami communities.[11] Ever since, the region has suffered from being a hotspot for illegal activies, notably illegal mining, leading to mercury poisoning of several tribespeople, including infants.

Sexual abuse, rape and illegal adoptions

A report published by Instituto Socioambiental and co-authored by the Hutukara Yanomami and the Wanasseduume Ye’kwana indigenous associations showed testimonies by indigenous women who said illegal miners offered them food or gold in exchange of sex with them and/or their children. Three teenagers aged 13 year-old reportedly died after being raped by illegal miners in 2020. Sexually transmitted infections have also been reported among Yanomami people.[12] Additionaly, the federal government opened probes into reports of illegal adoptions and systemic sexual abuse against Yanomami children.[13]

Gold mining

On January 16, 2023 Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo reported that Brazilian former army general Augusto Heleno, a former minister under the Bolsonaro government, authorized a convicted drug dealer to exploit a gold mining project in the Yanomami region.[14] On January 27, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported that the Brazilian Central Bank failed to crack down on gold laudering. The failure has reportedly emboldened some 20,000 illegal miners to further exploit indigenous territories including the Yanomami reservation.[15]

Legal miner companies such as M.M. Gold (rebranded from Gana Gold) have also masqueraded illegal activies by faking far more-than-permitted amounts of gold to be extracted in their licenses, according to a report by Mongabay and The Intercept Brazil. Cryptocurrencies have been also used to launder criminal activity and transfer financial assets to stooges.[16]

Death toll

Though estimates of overexploitation-related deaths of the Yanomami people are very scattered and under-reported due to the remoteness of the territory, reports revealed 99 Yanomami children aged 5-year-old or younger died in 2022, of which a third was due to pneumonia,[17][18] and from 2019 to 2023 a total of 570 Yanomami children died because of malnutrition, hunger and mercury poisoning.[19]

Health complications

Medical officials working in the Roraima state where the Yanomami reservation is located have noted a "total lack of proper medical care in the region" adding that malaria-infected indigenous patients have rapidly evolved into severe liver damage after being infected and going untreated multiple times by protozoan Plasmodium falciparum, one of the four species capable of causing malaria in humans.[20] Onchocerciasis, a parasitic disease linked to extreme poverty, has been eradicated in all the Brazilian territory but the Yanomami reservation, where it still represents a disease burden.[21]

Illegal mining financing

On January 24, 2023 two reports by Brazilian newspaper O Globo detailed that the Bolsonaro government allocated BRL 872 million (approximately USD 171 million) from the federal budget for the services of an opaque evangelical non-governmental organisation from 2019 to 2023. According to indigenous leaders in the Yanomami territory the NGO has not worked in the region since it started receiving Bolsonaro administration earmarks, raising suspicions of widespread corruption.[22] Additionally, government funds aimed to transport doctors and nurses to the region during the Bolsonaro administration were directed to transportation companies owned by illegal miners who were also reportedly tipped off about police raids and operations hours or days before they took place.[23]

The Yanomami indigenous territory location.

Aftermath

On January 21, 2023, Brazilian Health Ministry declared a medical emergency in the indigenous territory.[24] On the same day, a trip to the territory located in the northernmost Roraima state was made by Lula and top government officials including the Health minister Nísia Trindade, the Justice minister Flávio Dino and the Indigenous Affairs minister Sônia Guajajara to announce a federal aid package to the region and the Yanomami.[25] On January 24 a field hospital run by the federal government started being set up by the Brazilian military in Roraima's capital Boa Vista and opened three days later.[26][27] Some 5,000 emergency food kits including meals for indigenous children were sent and distributed into the Yanomami territory.[28]

Investigations

On January 18, Brazilian leading medical institute Fiocruz warned government officials that a batch of the malaria drug ASMQ meant to treat the disease in the Yanomami people went missing and was reportedly diverted to illegal miners who have since commercialized it.[29]

On January 30, Brazil Supreme Court authorized a probe over the handling of the humanitarian crisis by former Bolsonaro government officials as well as if a genocide has been committed. Investigators were also allowed to gather evidence of the disappearence of illegal aircrafts used by miners and seized by the police and the illegal disclosures of police raids to benefit illegal miners, among other actions or lack thereof.[30]

Crackdown

Simultaneously to the investigations, the federal government announced several measures to have the criminal networks operating in the region disbanded and removed from the Yanomami territory including heavy security and medical staff deployment; food and water supplies and garment items to the affected communities and the (re)opening of the indigenous agency Funai outposts in the region. Additionally, a no-fly zone was estabilished over the territory.[31][32][33]

Escape

After a blockade of fuel and food supplies feeding criminal organizations and a no-fly zone were announced a significant number of illegal miners reportedly gave up on taking flights and started escaping security forces by land, with some groups trying to cross the border into Venezuela and relatively distant Guyana. Individual flight tickets were reported to be costing 15,000 BRL (nearly 3,000 USD) due to the military siege and those who could not afford taking a flight were either trying to leave the reservation by boat or remained stranded as their food supplies ran out, according to reports and insiders.[34]

References

  1. ^ "Amazon gold miners invade indigenous village in Brazil after its leader is killed". The Guardian. 2019-07-28. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  2. ^ "Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act". Mongabay Environmental News. 2019-07-12. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  3. ^ Brum, Eliane (2020-06-24). "Mães Yanomami imploram pelos corpos de seus bebês". El País Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  4. ^ "Debatedores apontam risco de genocídio dos Yanomami - Notícias". Portal da Câmara dos Deputados (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  5. ^ "Povos indígenas, genocídio e a sequência de omissões do governo Bolsonaro". Consultor Jurídico (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  6. ^ "Evidence of 'genocide' among Brazil's indigenous Yanomami, says minister". Reuters. 2023-01-23. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  7. ^ Peres, João PeresMarcos Hermanson PomarTatiana MerlinoJoão; Pomar, Marcos Hermanson; de 2022, Tatiana Merlino18 de Outubro; 9h07. "Em áudio, militares na Funai prometem atropelar Ibama e liberar garimpo em terras indígenas". The Intercept Brasil (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Londoño, Ernesto (2019-01-02). "Jair Bolsonaro, on Day 1, Undermines Indigenous Brazilians' Rights". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  9. ^ "Brazil to open indigenous reserves to mining without indigenous consent". Mongabay Environmental News. 2019-03-14. Retrieved 2023-01-24.
  10. ^ "Lula e ministros desembarcam em Roraima para dar apoio aos Yanomami". Congresso em Foco (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  11. ^ http://biblioteca.funai.gov.br/media/pdf/Folheto50/FO-CX-50-3224-2003.PDF
  12. ^ Andrade, Jéssica (2023-01-31). "Garimpeiros prometem comida, perfume e ouro para abusarem de meninas ianomâmis". Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  13. ^ Meirelles, Matheus. "Governo Federal apura adoções ilegais e exploração sexual infantil em território Yanomami". CNN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  14. ^ "Heleno autorizou condenada por tráfico a explorar garimpo em área vizinha aos yanomamis". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-01-16. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  15. ^ "Seis meses depois, Banco Central não criou grupo de trabalho para combater o ouro ilegal". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  16. ^ "Raids reveal how illegal gold from Indigenous lands gets laundered in Brazil". Mongabay Environmental News. 2022-08-29. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  17. ^ "Quase 100 crianças do povo Yanomami morreram em 2022". noticias.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  18. ^ Poder360 (2023-01-23). "33% das mortes de crianças yanomamis foram por pneumonia". Poder360 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  19. ^ "Morte, fome e destruição: conflito histórico dos Yanomami contra o garimpo ilegal". TV Cultura (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  20. ^ "Yanomamis têm danos severos no fígado por malária e enfrentam falta de medicamentos". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  21. ^ "Ministério da Saúde quer eliminar hanseníase e outras doenças ligadas à pobreza". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-01-21. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  22. ^ "Como Bolsonaro gastou os recursos da saúde indígena? ONG evangélica ganhou R$ 872 milhões". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  23. ^ "Plano do Ibama para tirar garimpeiros de terra ianomâmi em seis meses não foi aplicado no governo Bolsonaro, diz MPF". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-28.
  24. ^ "Brazil declares emergency over deaths of Yanomami children from malnutrition". Reuters. 2023-01-22. Retrieved 2023-01-25.
  25. ^ Amaral, Eduardo Hahon, Luciana. "Lula viaja a Roraima neste sábado (21) para visitar indígenas Yanomami". CNN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-01-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  26. ^ "Hospital de campanha para atender indígenas Yanomami começa a ser montado em Boa Vista". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  27. ^ "Hospital de Campanha para atender Yanomami doentes começa a funcionar em Boa Vista". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  28. ^ "Governo envia 4 toneladas de alimentos para Ianomâmis". O Globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  29. ^ "Fiocruz relata que remédios para malária destinado a Yanomami foram desviados para garimpeiros". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  30. ^ "STF manda investigar autoridades da gestão Bolsonaro por suposto genocídio". noticias.uol.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  31. ^ "Brazilian army deploys to protect Indigenous Yanomami". RFI. 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  32. ^ "Com decreto, Lula autoriza megaoperação de socorro aos ianomâmis | Radar". VEJA (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  33. ^ Silva, Brenda. "Lula autoriza controle do espaço aéreo de território Yanomami e abertura de postos da Funai". CNN Brasil (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-02-05.
  34. ^ "Garimpo na terra yanomami vive inflação no preço de voo clandestino e busca de fuga a país vizinho". Folha de S.Paulo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2023-02-05. Retrieved 2023-02-05.
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