Garimpo threatens isolated indigenous people in the Yanomami area

A group of isolated indigenous people, within the Yanomami Territory, in Roraima, is just 15 kilometers from an illegal mining point. Images captured during an overflight, this Friday (10), prove the existence of the community and even register malocas and food plantations in the surroundings. The monitoring is part of a coordinated action that involved the ministries of Indigenous Peoples and the Environment, the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai), the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the National Force and the Police Federal. According to Funai, they are indigenous people of the Moxihatëtëa people. They have not yet been contacted, but they have been monitored by the foundation since 2010. Isolated peoples are communities that, by their own decision or due to certain circumstances, live in total isolation or without significant contact with society in general. At least since 2017, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) has been warning about the threat of genocide of the isolated Moxihatëtëa Yanomami peoples. In 2021, two indigenous people from the community were shot dead by miners. Coordinated action by the federal government in the Yanomami territory finds an isolated indigenous people community (Moxihatëtë), with no contact with society. They live just 15 km from a mining site. – LEO OTERO/MPI In addition to the Moxihatëtëa, Funai estimates that there are at least three other communities of isolated indigenous people in the Yanomami territory, but there is still no official confirmation. The fear of specialists is that the forced contact of these isolated communities with non-indigenous peoples will lead to the decimation of these peoples, either through direct conflicts or the spread of diseases. Affected by the presence of illegal mining on their lands for years, the Yanomami indigenous people have suffered from cases of malnutrition, diseases such as malaria and pneumonia, as well as violence, including episodes of aggression and murder. The situation has worsened over the past four years. The international repercussion of the images of malnourished children and adults and health units full of people with malaria and other diseases prompted the federal government to implement emergency measures to help the Yanomami. Actions include preparing diagnostic reports, sending medical teams, supplies and food, as well as direct repression against miners and their financiers.

Agência Brasil