The Ministry of Justice and Public Security extended for another 90 days the use of the National Force in support of the National Foundation for Indigenous Peoples (Funai) in the Pirititi Indigenous Land (TI), located in Roraima. The measure – provided for in Ordinance No. 383, published in the Official Gazette this Friday (26) – aims to protect the reserve, where an indigenous group called piruichichi (pirititi) or tiquirá lives in isolation. With the decision, the force agents will remain in the region until August 27, 2023. It is the third time that the current government has extended the presence of the National Force in the region, to support “the activities and services essential to the preservation of order public safety and the safety of people and assets”, also helping to guarantee the physical integrity of Funai employees. The ordinance establishes that the extension is episodic and planned. The contingent to be made available will comply with the planning defined by the Directorate of the National Public Security Force. Located in the city of Rorainópolis, the area of 43 thousand hectares has not yet been demarcated by Funai. Therefore, it was not even recognized by the federal government as Union land intended for exclusive indigenous use. In order to protect the Piruichichi from the consequences of the invasion of the territory by loggers, land grabbers and settlers who live on the edges of the area, Funai issued, in 2012, an ordinance restricting the entry, movement and stay of non-indigenous people in the region. Demarcation The ordinance should be in force until the conclusion of the administrative process of recognition of the TI Piruichichi, but as this has not yet been concluded, it is being renewed. The last renewal took place in October 2022. At the time, the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), which is filing a public civil action to force the Union to complete the demarcation process, announced that Funai had signed a court agreement agreeing to extend the measure restrictive for an indefinite period and committed to completing the identification and delimitation reports of the indigenous land by February 2025. According to Funai, the administrative interdiction allows control of access to the area, prohibiting any type of economic activity within the 43 thousand acre. The restriction does not apply to the Armed Forces and public security agents in the exercise of their functions, as long as they are duly accompanied by Funai officials. The area in question is close to the Waimiri-Atroari IL, whose inhabitants the Piruichichi would be related. According to Funai, it was initially believed that the piruichichi would be protected within the area designated for the waimiri-atroari. Studies Later studies, however, confirmed their presence outside the indigenous land approved in 1989. In 2011, when flying over the region, foundation employees saw malocas and swiddens made by the group outside the Waimiri-Atroari reserve. Still according to Funai, the interdiction of areas where groups of isolated indigenous people live aims to guarantee the right of these peoples to their territory, without the need to contact them, respecting the group’s will to keep distance from non-indigenous society, with the which only makes occasional contacts. Once the presence of these groups is confirmed, Funai monitors the territory, respecting the physical and cultural survival strategies, as well as the group’s habits and customs. This policy has been adopted by the Brazilian government since the 1980s.
Agência Brasil
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