Statement on COVID 19 and Indigenous Peoples by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Many aspects contribute to the vulnerability and particular risk for Indigenous People in the context of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The following are voices speaking directly from different Indigenous communities on the impacts, concerns, and responses to the new challenges raised by the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America.
By Beatriz Huertas and Neptalí Cueva
The compulsory isolation declared by several countries to prevent the spread of COVID-19 calls for reflection on the isolation that several Indigenous Peoples have chosen in order to survive external intervention that, with different interests, triggers diseases and deaths, disrupts their daily lives and endangers their future.
Photo: Chris Erni // IWGIA
By –Dilip Chakma, Convenor, Indigenous Lawyers Association of India (ILAI) and Paritosh Chakma, Advisor, ILAI
Coronavirus (COVID-19) has been declared as a pandemic and its impact on the world is yet to be fully assessed. Indigenous peoples living on the margins of the society are unlikely to be considered in the scheme of responses and reactions by most of the States.
Indigenous Peoples at increased risk due to coronavirus
COPENHAGEN | 30 MARCH 2020 | As the spread of COVID-19 continues, Indigenous Peoples worldwide are in increasing danger of losing their lives and having their rights stripped away.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending indigenous peoples’ rights. Read more.
IWGIA's global report, the Indigenous World, provides an update of the current situation for indigenous peoples worldwide. Read The Indigenous World.
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