An illegal gold mining surge on Brazil's biggest indigenous reservation has delivered sickness, conflict, and severe human rights abuses to the Yanomami people, condemning high gold prices and unspoken government support, according to investigations.
Based on a survey by the Hutukara Yanomami Association, wildcat mining on rivers in the area where 29,000 Yanomami dwell in northern Brazil increased by 46% last year, posing a threat to secluded settlements with little or no external connection.
Law authorities have failed to stop the rising invasion of Yanomami land under President Jair Bolsonaro, who has advocated for increased mining on the indigenous property.
Yesterday, tens of thousands of indigenous people from 200 native tribes reportedly marched in Brasilia's capital to protest Bolsonaro's bid to allow mining on protected reservation grounds.
According to the research, which was created with the help of the Instituto Socioambiental, an environmental and indigenous rights advocacy organization, the miners intruding on Yanomami land are now braver, more equipped, and frequently armed with automatic guns.
Mining camps frequently include broadband internet, clubs, strippers, and shops, according to the research, which attributes support for the camps to both local business elite and established crime syndicates playing a growing role in gold theft.
The research details how indigenous health stations have been taken over by unauthorized miners, who are utilizing the airfields to park their aircraft and helicopters and the abandoned buildings to keep their supplies after being vacated by medical staff owing to government reduced funding and a lack of protection.
The miners can alert others of environmental enforcement operations, which have lost their element of surprise, due to access to social media via high-speed internet connections, according to the report.
COVID-19 was carried to the distant region by miners, who also helped spread malaria, both of which have wreaked havoc on the Yanomami.
As per the report, mercury used to extract gold from sand has polluted rivers, resulting in an increase in neurological abnormalities among babies. Miners also smuggled in alcohol and narcotics that are sold to Yanomami women in return for sex, involving rape allegations.
Last year, Yanomami youths attempted to obstruct the flow of supply boats on the Uraricoera river, resulting in tragic conflicts and retribution by miners who fired on the Palimiu settlement to frighten the people.
Anthropologist Rogerio do Pateo said, the rising presence of armed men has made the Yanomami afraid to go out hunting for food or even to cultivate their crops.
