Minister says that leaving without the use of police force is “better for everyone”
the minister Sonia Guajajara (Indigenous Peoples) said this Saturday (Feb 4, 2023) that the government identified that many miners are already leaving the Yanomami indigenous lands. For her, the way out without using police force is “best for everyone”. The minister also states that the State must “make yourself present It is take responsibility” for the protection and recovery of the affected indigenous land.
“We have this information since many prospectors are leaving, but it’s good that they leave, so we even reduce the operation”, he said in an interview with journalists.
The government has published rules to increase inspection of the airspace of Yanomami land. On Wednesday (Feb 1st), the Air Force began the control operation. The objective is to combat illegal mining.
“If they already start to leave, I think they are correct because the call we are making is for that very reason. If they leave without needing this security force, this police force is better for everyone.”, he stated.
According to the minister, the removal of the prospector is urgent. “There is no legal authorization for this exploitation. So, everything that is mining that is in the Yanomami territory is considered illegal. Therefore, they need to be removed immediately. That’s what the federal government is determined to do right now“, he said.
The operation should be commanded by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. Funai (National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples) monitors the actions and devises strategies to prevent prospectors from moving to other indigenous areas.
“As a federal government, we have to be very careful so that what happened in 1992 does not happen now, when the Yanomami indigenous land was removed. The garimpeiros left and a large part of them went to the Raposa Serra do Sol indigenous land”, said Lucia Alberta, Director of Promotion of Sustainable Development at Funai.
The government is also working, according to Guajajara, to make it possible for indigenous people to produce food. “At this moment, the State needs to be present and assume responsibility for these actions.”, he declared.
The minister traveled this Saturday to Boa Vista (RR) with a delegation led by the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship. The objective, according to the portfolio, is “collect information and diagnoses about the humanitarian tragedy in indigenous territories”.
The government team visited Casai (House of Indigenous Health), the Hospital da Criança and the Unified Health System and the General Hospital of Roraima. On Tuesday (7.Feb), field visits are planned to villages that make up the Yanomami territory, in Surucucu.
Data
According to information from the Dsei Yanomami (Special Indigenous Health District), there are 31,500 indigenous people living in Roraima and Amazonas. There are around 400 communities, which are served by 68 health centers. However, 3 of the posts were inactivated after the advance of illegal mining.
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