NDIGENOUS peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts from not only climate change, but also hardship in education, employment, health, human rights, social and economic development, and everyday life.
(Picture- Indigenous people: Aren't they citizens of Bangladesh? Photo: Munir Uz Zaman/ Driknews)
Precise estimates for the total population of the world's indigenous peoples are very difficult to compile, but at the start of the 21st century, there were at least 370 million indigenous people, including 5,000 distinct tribes spread across 70 countries, living relatively neutral or even carbon negative lifestyles. While not a large number when compared to the world population of 6 billion, it does have a substantial impact in lowering emissions. Compare this to the impact of the United States, with a population of 300 million -- only 4% of the world's population -- but responsible for about 25% of world greenhouse gas emissions. But the global situation of indigenous peoples is not encouraging.
In order to end their marginalisation, their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their traditional lands and the other grave human rights abuses they face, the UN General Assembly decided to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous People on August 9 every year during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous people, declared on December 23, 1994, to commemorate the first meeting in 1982 of the UN Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights.
In recognition of indigenous peoples' particular vulnerability to climate change and their important role in responding to it, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in its 2008 session will focus on "Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked member states and indigenous people to come together in a spirit of mutual respect. "Indeed, the suffering of indigenous peoples includes some of the darkest episodes in human history," he mentioned in his special message on the eve of this year's International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Indigenous peoples have a history and a culture that will never die. They have a consciousness of culture and brotherhood, though they remain on each country's fringes, marginal to each country's citizenship. They continue to suffer from discrimination, marginalisation, extreme poverty and conflict. They face dispossession of their traditional lands and livelihoods, displacement, destruction of their belief systems, culture, language and way of life, and even the threat of extinction.
In identifying themselves as indigenous peoples, they do not mean to undermine the rights of anyone else, nor do they mean to undermine the global state system. According to Rebecca Adamson, an American Indian Rights activist, we are all indigenous people, and we have to reorganise to get along. All humankind is related to each other, each with a purpose, spirit, and sacredness. The rights of indigenous peoples are the same as the rights of all humans.
Indigenous peoples have fought for over 500 years against genocide, displacement, colonisation and forced assimilation. Throughout, they have succeeded in preserving their cultures and their identities as distinct peoples. But the ongoing fight over land and power has left indigenous communities among the poorest and most marginalised in the world, alienated from state politics, under- or un-represented by national governments. Today, indigenous peoples, who occupy some of the last pristine environments on earth, are at the forefront of the struggle against corporate globalisation and privatisation of natural resources.
They want to be recognised for who they are: distinct groups with their own unique cultures and their own unique destinies, unaffected by the whims of their governments. They want to be protected from genocide, arbitrary execution, torture, forced relocation, or assimilation; they want to enjoy their rights to freedom of expression, association, and religion. They want to be treated equally with respect to opportunities for education, healthcare, work, and other basic needs. Where such rights conflict with the needs of the state or other peoples, they want to participate as equals in an impartial and transparent process for resolving the conflict in a fair, respectful way.
But they are inevitably going to disappear and some populations are facing extinction sooner than later. 18 of the 28 indigenous groups in Colombia have less than 100 members, "and are suspended between life and death." 50 indigenous people were killed and other forced to move to neighbouring villages, caves and mosques by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority in 2004. Indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia have been uprooted by the aggressive expansion of oil palm plantations for bio-fuel production.
The recent cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and the earthquake that struck southwest China, brought the world's attention to the plight of indigenous peoples in South and Central Asia, if only for a brief moment. The Rakia of India, the Peripatetics of South Asia, the Bhil of central western India, the Tharu of Nepal, the Dom of Northern Pakistan, the peoples and cultures of the Kashmir Himalayas, the Hazara of Central Afghanistan, the Wakhi and Kirghiz of the Pamirian Knot, the Badakshani of Tajikistan, the Lezghi of the Caucasus mountain range, the people of Tibet, and the Minhe Mangghuer of China; all remain stubbornly amongst the poorest of the poor. They are rapidly disappearing not only from natural disasters, but also from globalisation and its associated processes of imperialism and capitalism.
Bangladesh is so culturally vast that it is easy to lose sight of how many indigenous peoples inhabit the region. Approximately 2.5 million are indigenous peoples belonging to 45 different ethnic groups. But according to a study of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights, 61% of indigenous people still face discrimination, 42% are victims of corruption, and 19% have been evicted from their ancestral lands. Around 1.2 million indigenous people of the country are yet to be recognised as special or indigenous communities constitutionally, deprived of enjoying their rights and facing discrimination.
Avoiding the path of armed conflict and finding a political solution to improve the condition of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh, the government set up a special ministry titled "Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs" on July 15, 1998 following a peace accord signed between National Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana-Samhati Samiti on December 2, 1997. Since the signing of the peace accord, there has been a catastrophic failure to implement the accord's terms.
Arrests and intimidation of activists, and other human rights abuses continue. Land continues to be stolen from the indigenous people by both government agencies and by settlers. There is no one to put an end to human rights violations in the region or to ensure that those responsible for these violations are brought to justice.
Today, we have to acknowledge the contributions which indigenous peoples make to humanity through their rich civilisations. We must vigilantly uphold respect for their human rights. They should be integrated in the international development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals, in policies, programs, and country-level projects. We have to acknowledge their special stewardship on issues related to the environment and climate change.
Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York.
In order to end their marginalisation, their extreme poverty, the expropriation of their traditional lands and the other grave human rights abuses they face, the UN General Assembly decided to celebrate the International Day of the World's Indigenous People on August 9 every year during the International Decade of the World's Indigenous people, declared on December 23, 1994, to commemorate the first meeting in 1982 of the UN Working Group of Indigenous Populations of the Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities of the Commission on Human Rights.
In recognition of indigenous peoples' particular vulnerability to climate change and their important role in responding to it, the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in its 2008 session will focus on "Climate change, bio-cultural diversity and livelihoods: the stewardship role of indigenous peoples and new challenges." UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked member states and indigenous people to come together in a spirit of mutual respect. "Indeed, the suffering of indigenous peoples includes some of the darkest episodes in human history," he mentioned in his special message on the eve of this year's International Day of the World's Indigenous People.
Indigenous peoples have a history and a culture that will never die. They have a consciousness of culture and brotherhood, though they remain on each country's fringes, marginal to each country's citizenship. They continue to suffer from discrimination, marginalisation, extreme poverty and conflict. They face dispossession of their traditional lands and livelihoods, displacement, destruction of their belief systems, culture, language and way of life, and even the threat of extinction.
In identifying themselves as indigenous peoples, they do not mean to undermine the rights of anyone else, nor do they mean to undermine the global state system. According to Rebecca Adamson, an American Indian Rights activist, we are all indigenous people, and we have to reorganise to get along. All humankind is related to each other, each with a purpose, spirit, and sacredness. The rights of indigenous peoples are the same as the rights of all humans.
Indigenous peoples have fought for over 500 years against genocide, displacement, colonisation and forced assimilation. Throughout, they have succeeded in preserving their cultures and their identities as distinct peoples. But the ongoing fight over land and power has left indigenous communities among the poorest and most marginalised in the world, alienated from state politics, under- or un-represented by national governments. Today, indigenous peoples, who occupy some of the last pristine environments on earth, are at the forefront of the struggle against corporate globalisation and privatisation of natural resources.
They want to be recognised for who they are: distinct groups with their own unique cultures and their own unique destinies, unaffected by the whims of their governments. They want to be protected from genocide, arbitrary execution, torture, forced relocation, or assimilation; they want to enjoy their rights to freedom of expression, association, and religion. They want to be treated equally with respect to opportunities for education, healthcare, work, and other basic needs. Where such rights conflict with the needs of the state or other peoples, they want to participate as equals in an impartial and transparent process for resolving the conflict in a fair, respectful way.
But they are inevitably going to disappear and some populations are facing extinction sooner than later. 18 of the 28 indigenous groups in Colombia have less than 100 members, "and are suspended between life and death." 50 indigenous people were killed and other forced to move to neighbouring villages, caves and mosques by the Ugandan Wildlife Authority in 2004. Indigenous peoples in Malaysia and Indonesia have been uprooted by the aggressive expansion of oil palm plantations for bio-fuel production.
The recent cyclone Nargis in Myanmar, and the earthquake that struck southwest China, brought the world's attention to the plight of indigenous peoples in South and Central Asia, if only for a brief moment. The Rakia of India, the Peripatetics of South Asia, the Bhil of central western India, the Tharu of Nepal, the Dom of Northern Pakistan, the peoples and cultures of the Kashmir Himalayas, the Hazara of Central Afghanistan, the Wakhi and Kirghiz of the Pamirian Knot, the Badakshani of Tajikistan, the Lezghi of the Caucasus mountain range, the people of Tibet, and the Minhe Mangghuer of China; all remain stubbornly amongst the poorest of the poor. They are rapidly disappearing not only from natural disasters, but also from globalisation and its associated processes of imperialism and capitalism.
Bangladesh is so culturally vast that it is easy to lose sight of how many indigenous peoples inhabit the region. Approximately 2.5 million are indigenous peoples belonging to 45 different ethnic groups. But according to a study of Bangladesh Society for the Enforcement of Human Rights, 61% of indigenous people still face discrimination, 42% are victims of corruption, and 19% have been evicted from their ancestral lands. Around 1.2 million indigenous people of the country are yet to be recognised as special or indigenous communities constitutionally, deprived of enjoying their rights and facing discrimination.
Avoiding the path of armed conflict and finding a political solution to improve the condition of the indigenous peoples of Bangladesh, the government set up a special ministry titled "Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs" on July 15, 1998 following a peace accord signed between National Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana-Samhati Samiti on December 2, 1997. Since the signing of the peace accord, there has been a catastrophic failure to implement the accord's terms.
Arrests and intimidation of activists, and other human rights abuses continue. Land continues to be stolen from the indigenous people by both government agencies and by settlers. There is no one to put an end to human rights violations in the region or to ensure that those responsible for these violations are brought to justice.
Today, we have to acknowledge the contributions which indigenous peoples make to humanity through their rich civilisations. We must vigilantly uphold respect for their human rights. They should be integrated in the international development agenda, including the Millennium Development Goals, in policies, programs, and country-level projects. We have to acknowledge their special stewardship on issues related to the environment and climate change.
Ripan Kumar Biswas is a freelance writer based in New York.
