Wednesday, January 5, 2011

underreported Struggles - 45

Ahni at Intercontinental Cry has some very important underreported struggles this month.
Members of the Toba Qom community of La Primavera called off a hunger strike after the Argentine government agreed to listen to their demands for justice and the return of lands. the Hunger strike began roughly three weeks after the Toba were brutally repressed by the police, resulting in the death of three people.
Australia's Federal Environment Minister granted an emergency listing to a sacred site near Hobart, the state capital of Tasmania. The culturally important site is home to approx. three million indigenous artifacts, some of which are up to 42,000 years old. However, despite the now-protected status of the site, the government claims that it "cannot" stop the Brighton Bypass project... even though it will irreparably damage the site.
In the Sarawak region of Borneo, the Penan discovered that the rainforest to which they were planning to relocate, is being actively cleared for oil palm plantations. As reported by Aliran, "[1,000] Penan are being forced to move by the Sarawak state government to allow the billion-dollar Murum dam project to go ahead." With the relocation site site being destroyed, it is unclear where the Penan will be able to go.
And many more - please visit Intercontinental Cry and read about these struggles.

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