Brazil to remove intruders from six other indigenous areas

After the withdrawal of miners from the Yanomami region, in North Brazil, the government should conduct operations to remove nonindigenous people in six other indigenous areas.

Minister of Justice and Public Security Flávio Dino announced on Monday (Mar. 20) that the territories given priority due to the presence of invaders are also in the Amazon region: Karipuna and Uru-Eu-Wau-Wau, in Rondônia state; Kayapó, Mundurucu, and Trincheira Bacajá, in Pará; and Arariboia, in Maranhão.

He affirmed the efforts on the Yanomami lands should last until April and admitted there are signs of lingering miners. “We still have miners present. And, regretfully, sometimes indigenous people themselves argue for their presence, reacting to work of security forces,” the minister declared.

Minister Dino also declared that the National Security Force will remain in the Yanomami area over the next few months, even after the invaders have been driven out.

Patrolling vessel

The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that a Federal Police patrolling vessel will be ready in the next few days in the Amazon’s Vale do Javari region, where Brazil’s largest concentration of isolated indigenous people is located.

With capacity for 200 people, the craft has been recovered and will be used to patrol rivers in the region where UK journalist Dom Phillips and indigenous activist Bruno Pereira were murdered in June last year.