More essential underreported struggles from Ahni at Intercontinental Cry.
underreported struggles 72
Representatives of nearly 200 Kreung families in Cambodia’s Ratanakkiri province filed a complaint with local rights group Adhoc, accusing a Vietnamese rubber company of clearing their ancestral land.
The government however, says that the Kreung no longer have rights to
land in question no longer their land, because it was sold to the
company. The government went on to ask the villagers to start applying
for private land titles; otherwise, they’ll have nowhere to go when the
company arrives.
A small delegation of respected Rohingya leaders unexpectedly showed up at a conference at Mahidol University in Bangkok to halt the further degradation of the history of Arakan.
None of the Rohingya leaders nor any member of the Rohingya community
were invited to the so-called International Conference on the History of
Arakan; a conference whose speakers followed the traditional
make-believe story that there are no Rohingya in the history and that
the term “Rohingya” was created in 1951. The delegation did their best
to set the record straight.
The Shuar stepped up their efforts to defend their culture and way of life
against the impending threat of the 25,000 acre Mirador mining Project.
They initiated a legal action alongside Environmental and human rights
using Articles 71-73 on Rights of Nature in the Ecuadorian
Constitution. In their case, the plaintiffs have asked the courts to
stop the Mirador Project using the precautionary principle. If the
project is allowed to go ahead, it would have a severe impact on the
Shuar’s culture, their sacred sites, and the very water and land they
depend on.
Traditional owners in Arnhem Land, Australia, issued a
petition to Darwin and Canberra calling on the Northern Territory and
Federal governments not to allow their country to be fracked. More than
80 per cent of the Northern Territory is now under application for the
unconventional oil and gas exploration, including most of Arnhem Land.
As a public demonstration, Traditional owners also burnt a letter from Paltar Petroleum
who was responding to their objections. As they burnt the document the
men called out in unison: “Paltar this is what you wrote to us, and we
say no!”
The Enxet community of Sawhoyamaxa announced their return to their ancestral lands
which they were expelled from more than 20 years ago. Since the forced
eviction was carried out, the community has been living along the side
of a road, right next to the land they were removed from. Seven years
ago, the community won a favourable ruling at the Interamerican Court of
Human Rights; however, the Paraguyan government has thus far refused to
act on it, leaving the community to roam around like cattle. No longer.
The community resolved to occupy their lands in the hopes of compelling
the government to do the right thing. As a part of the effort,
Sawhoyamaxa called on call to all indigenous brothers and sisters to
express solidarity with their struggle.
The Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) was taken to court by Hudson Bay Mining and Smelting
(Hudbay) after some first nation citizens gathered for a second time at
the entrance to the company’s gold, zinc and copper mine. The peaceful
effort was aimed at drawing attention to the fact that neither HudBay
or the Manitoba government obtained consent before going ahead with
development. The company is suing MCCN for millions of dollars in
alleged ‘damages’.
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