News archive » 2008

India: Tribe – ‘Vedanta is destroying us for profit’
15 May 2008 As FTSE 100 mining company Vedanta announces record profits today, India’s remote Dongria Kondh tribe is claiming the company will destroy them forever if it goes ahead with plans to mine their sacred mountain.
Brazil: Amazon Indians hold mass rally to oppose dams
13 May 2008 The largest indigenous gathering in the Brazilian Amazon in nearly twenty years will take place from May 19 to 23 in the town of Altamira, Pará, to protest against a series of huge hydroelectric dams.
Botswana: Reserve opens up for tourists while Bushmen told to walk 400km for water
12 May 2008 Botswana’s government is this week promoting the Central Kalahari Game Reserve as a top tourist destination, but it has banned the reserve’s Bushmen from accessing their own water.
Peru: Government drops plans to open up uncontacted tribes’ reserves
8 May 2008 Peru’s government has dropped plans to open up uncontacted Indians’ reserves to oil exploration. The latest round of concessions, announced this week, do not include any of the uncontacted Indians’ reserves.
India: Tribe stages mass protest against British company Vedanta
8 May 2008 Hundreds of members of the remote Dongria Kondh tribe held a protest in India yesterday against the British FTSE 100 company VEDANTA, which plans to mine their sacred mountain.
Paraguay: Ayoreo Indian dies after first contact
7 May 2008 A Paraguayan Indian, who lived without contact with the outside world until 1998, has died of tuberculosis. Survival has called his life, ‘a symbol of the fate of indigenous people in the Americas since Columbus’.
Botswana: Government urges public not to fund Survival
7 May 2008 A Botswana government spokesperson has appealed to members of the public not to donate to Survival, because of its support for the Bushmen who were evicted from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve [CKGR].
Global: Uncontacted tribes 'at risk of extinction' UN forum is told
2 May 2008 An indigenous organisation set up to defend the rights and lives of uncontacted tribes in South America has stated that the majority of these tribes are ‘at risk of extinction.’
Global: Biofuels threaten lands of 60 million tribal people
30 April 2008 Demand for biofuels is destroying tribal peoples’ land and lives, according to indigenous representatives at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), meeting currently in New York.
India: New Survival campaign targets British company Vedanta - mine set to destroy remote tribe
29 April 2008 Survival International has launched a new campaign targeting British FTSE-100 company VEDANTA, whose plans to mine a sacred mountain in India, if approved, will destroy the remote Dongria Kondh tribe.
Colombia: Isolated Indians targeted by rebels and army
28 April 2008 One hundred and thirty Nukak Indians, some of the last nomadic Indians in the Amazon, have fled their rainforest homes after becoming caught up in Colombia’s civil war.
Botswana: Safari company to build tourist lodge near Bushman community
25 April 2008 The Botswana government has awarded the ‘Safari & Adventure Company’ a tender to build a tourist lodge near the Bushman community of Molapo in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
Bangladesh: Seven Jumma villages burnt down in Chittagong Hill Tracts
24 April 2008 Seven villages belonging to the ‘Jumma’ tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts were burned to the ground on Sunday by Bengali settlers, with the support of the Bangladesh army.
Peru: Judge issues statement in uncontacted tribes court case
22 April 2008 A judge in Peru has issued a statement dismissing the arguments of three companies and the Peruvian government in a court case involving some of the world’s last uncontacted tribes and oil exploration.
Malaysia: Penan picture archive online
22 April 2008 A collection of hundreds of photographs of the Penan tribe of Sarawak is being made available online for the first time.
Botswana: Water for tourists in the Kalahari, but not for Bushmen
21 April 2008 Tourist lodges requiring huge amounts of water are to be built on the land of the Kalahari Bushmen – but the Bushmen are not allowed to pump water from their single borehole.
Brazil: Removal of illegal invaders suspended
18 April 2008 Violence by farmers illegally occupying indigenous land in the Brazilian state of Roraima has led the Brazilian Supreme Court (STF) to suspend a police operation to remove them.
Peru: Uncontacted tribes go 'round the world'
17 April 2008 The threats of extinction to uncontacted tribes in the Peruvian Amazon have turned the tribes’ plight into one of global concern, with members of the public all around the world increasingly aware of the desperate situation facing them.
Botswana: Gem Diamonds sink water boreholes on Bushman land, Bushmen still denied water
14 April 2008 Several water boreholes have been sunk in preparation for a diamond mine in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, Botswana, but the Bushmen who live there are forbidden from taking any water at all from their own borehole.
Peru: Uncontacted tribes flee across the border
11 April 2008 Uncontacted tribes in Peru are fleeing across the border to Brazil because illegal mahogany loggers are invading their territory and killing them, according to an uncontacted tribes expert.
Brazil: Yanomami slam government over mining
11 April 2008 Yanomami and Yekuana Indians from two communities have denounced the Brazilian government’s attempts to persuade them to accept large-scale mining on their land.
Brazil: UK’s Channel 4 to expose mining on Yanomami land
10 April 2008 The acclaimed Channel 4 current affairs series, ‘Unreported World’, is to broadcast a documentary tomorrow exposing the devastating effects of illegal goldmining on the land of the Yanomami Indians in the Brazilian Amazon.
Malaysia: Penan’s chief’s death still a mystery after body exhumed
10 April 2008 Police in Sarawak, Malaysia are not ruling out the possibility that anti-logging Penan leader Kelesau Naan, who was found dead in December, was murdered.
Indonesia: Shootings and arrests spread fear in West Papua
8 April 2008 Thirteen indigenous Papuans were arrested on 13 March in the town of Manokwari, West Papua, for taking part in peaceful demonstrations against the 2007 law banning the display of the Papuan Morning Star flag.
Brazil: Illegal invaders use guerrilla tactics to resist removal from Indians’ land
7 April 2008 A group of farmers who are illegally occupying indigenous territory in the Brazilian state of Roraima have resorted to guerrilla tactics to resist police attempts to remove them from the land.
Brazil: ‘Guarani children malnourished due to lack of land’
4 April 2008 A Brazilian public prosecutor has told a Brazilian parliamentary enquiry that the government’s failure to demarcate and protect the land of the Guarani Indians is leading to widespread malnutrition among Guarani children.
Botswana: UN human rights committee criticises Botswana over Bushman issue
3 April 2008 The UN Human Rights Committee has criticised Botswana’s government over its treatment of the Bushmen. The committee urged Botswana to ensure that ‘all persons who were relocated are granted the right to return to the CKGR.'
Botswana: McCall Smith breaks silence on Bushmen
2 April 2008 Alexander McCall Smith, author of The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency, has spoken out for the first time in support of the Kalahari Bushmen of Botswana.
Botswana: Survival launches Bushman water campaign
1 April 2008 Survival launches a new letter-writing campaign today asking the new President of Botswana, Lt Gen Ian Khama, to allow the Bushmen of the central Kalahari to access water on their land.
Brazil: Enawene Nawe Indians win right to fish
1 April 2008 A Brazilian judge has affirmed that the Enawene Nawe Indians have the right to fish on the Rio Preto, their most important fishing river.
Botswana: US State Department condemns Botswana’s ‘narrow interpretation’ of Bushman ruling
28 March 2008 The United States Department of State has this month produced a report on human rights in Botswana. The report criticises the Botswana government’s ‘narrow interpretation’ of the High Court ruling on the Bushmen.
Peru: British TV company deny allegations about Peru visit
27 March 2008 The British TV company Cicada Films has denied being responsible for a flu epidemic in a remote region of Peru that according to local Indians caused four deaths.
Peru: British TV company accused of bringing ‘epidemic’ to isolated Indians
26 March 2008 A fierce controversy is raging in the Peruvian Amazon over the activities of a film crew working for the British TV company Cicada Films.
Global: Tribal peoples' water being destroyed by industry and governments
20 March 2008 Survival International today releases a summary report which shows how tribal peoples are having their basic right to water denied.
Global: Survival names winner of the 'most racist article of the year' award
19 March 2008 An article comparing Paraguayan Indians to cancer and describing them as ‘Neolithic’, ‘out-of-date’ and ‘filthy’ has been named by Survival as the ‘most racist article’ in the mainstream media published in the last year.
France: President Mogae to be met by protestors during French visit
19 March 2008 Supporters of Survival International in France will hold a peaceful demonstration in support of the Kalahari Bushmen on Friday, to coincide with an official visit from Botswana’s president, Festus Mogae.
Brazil: Ranchers threaten Enawene Nawe Indians
17 March 2008 A group of armed men have walked into an Enawene Nawe fishing camp in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, and threatened the Indians with reprisals unless they leave.
Botswana: UN Human Rights Committee to examine Botswana
17 March 2008 The UN Human Rights Committee will meet this week to examine Botswana’s human rights record.
UK: Demonstrators prepare for Minghella/Curtis film premiere
13 March 2008 Human rights group Survival International will be holding a protest outside the premiere of Anthony Minghella and Richard Curtis’s latest film The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.
India: Rahul Gandhi speaks out against British company’s plan to mine sacred mountain
13 March 2008 Rahul Gandhi, general secretary of India’s ruling Congress Party, has spoken out against British company Vedanta’s plans to mine the Dongria Kondh tribe’s sacred mountain.
Botswana: Survival protest yesterday – ‘Bushman women dying for diamonds’
13 March 2008 Botswana’s Attorney General, the Governor of the Bank of Botswana and the CEO of De Beers Botswana were greeted in London yesterday by protesters holding blown-up photographs of Bushman women who have died due to the eviction of the Bushmen from their lan
Colombia: Bombing and assassination bring civil war to Amazon nomads
12 March 2008 One of the Amazon’s last nomadic tribes, the Nukak, has become tragically caught up in the aftermath of the recent hostage deal negotiated in Colombia between the government and left-wing FARC guerrillas.
Chile: Key international law on tribal peoples ratified
11 March 2008 Chile has signed up to the world’s key international law on tribal peoples, following Spain and Nepal to become the third country to sign in the last eighteen months.
UK: Survival protest – ‘Bushman women dying for diamonds’
10 March 2008 Survival International will hold a peaceful protest in support of the Kalahari Bushmen outside a public meeting hosted by the Botswana diamond industry at Chatham House in London.
Global: Threats to uncontacted tribes deemed 'vital' issue by indigenous federation
10 March 2008 The threats to uncontacted tribes living in the most remote parts of the Amazon basin has been named an ‘issue of vital importance’ by the Amazon’s most prominent indigenous federation.
Pippa Small named ‘Survival ambassador’
25 February 2008 Jeweller Pippa Small was named today as an ambassador for Survival International.
Brazil: Yanomami - ‘Mining project will bring death to our people’
21 February 2008 Yanomami Indian leaders in Brazil have claimed that a project to open indigenous land for mining would ‘bring death’ to their tribe.
An indigenous language dies ‘once every two weeks’
20 February 2008 An indigenous language dies on average once every two weeks, reports Survival on International Mother Language Day (21 February).
Bangladesh: Independent team denounces repression of Jumma tribes
15 February 2008 A group of prominent Bangladeshis have spoken of their ‘grave concern’ for the Jumma tribal peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts after a fact finding trip to the region.
Brazil: Land invasion forces Yanomami into local town
15 February 2008 A group of Yanomami Indians have spent the past ten days camped in a local Brazilian town following the invasion of their land by goldminers and ranchers.
Kenya: Ogiek leader receives death threat
14 February 2008 A leader of the Ogiek tribe in Kenya has received a death threat by telephone. An unknown caller told Mr Mpoiok Kobei, ‘We need your head before Tuesday nineteenth, this month.’
Australia: Government apologises to Aborigines
13 February 2008 The newly-elected Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has issued a formal apology to the country's indigenous people for the historic injustices they have suffered.
UK: Kalahari Bushmen on BBC television
13 February 2008 The Kalahari Bushmen featured on prime time UK television on Sunday evening, in the BBC’s current affairs series ‘Tropic of Capricorn’.
Peru: Reports of ‘encounter’ between oil workers and isolated Indians
12 February 2008 Unconfirmed reports indicate that a team prospecting for oil deep in the Peruvian Amazon has encountered a village belonging to previously-uncontacted Indians.
Julie Christie named ‘Survival ambassador’
1 February 2008 Multi-award-winning actress Julie Christie was today named as an ambassador for Survival International, the worldwide movement to support tribal peoples.
Australia: Government to apologise to Aborigines
31 January 2008 Australia's new government has announced that its first act will be an apology for the historic treatment of the country's first inhabitants.
Kenya: Honey-hunting Ogiek tribe caught up in violence
30 January 2008 Leaders of the honey-hunting Ogiek tribe have reported that they are being targeted in the escalating post-election violence in Kenya.
Global: Julie Christie and Survival launch Uncontacted Tribes campaign
25 January 2008 Screen icon Julie Christie and Survival have launched a campaign to save uncontacted tribes from extinction, with a film featuring previously unseen footage of some of the world’s most remote and endangered peoples.
Australia: Survival calls for a new start in Aboriginal relations
24 January 2008 To mark Australia Day on 26 January Survival International calls on Australia’s new government to lay the foundations for a fresh start in relations with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Brazil: Uncontacted Indians saved
23 January 2008 After an intensive Survival campaign, Brazil’s Indian affairs department, FUNAI, has announced that it is restricting all entry into the Rio Pardo territory, home to a tiny group of about 30 uncontacted Indians who are on the brink of extinction.
Botswana: Mine ‘consultation’ process fatally flawed
22 January 2008 Representatives from the consultancy firm Marsh Environmental Services today begin a whirlwind twelve-day consultation programme in and around the Central Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), in Botswana.
India: Traffic triples on highway that threatens Jarawa tribe
21 January 2008 The Andaman Trunk Road, which the Indian Supreme Court ruled must be closed six years ago because it threatens the Jarawa tribe, has seen a threefold increase in traffic since 2001.
India: British mining company to devastate sacred mountain
21 January 2008 A British company, Vedanta Resources plc, looks likely to be given the go-ahead for a mine that will devastate the Dongria Kondh tribe’s sacred mountain.
Bangladesh: Jumma king’s government appointment gives tribes fresh hope
17 January 2008 Bangladesh’s caretaker government has given fresh hope to the Jumma tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts by appointing a Jumma king to run the affairs of the area.
Brazil: Tribunal upholds Indians’ land rights
16 January 2008 A Brazilian federal tribunal has upheld the government’s recognition of the Apyterewa indigenous territory, home to the Parakaná Indians in the Amazonian state of Pará.
Brazil: Javari Valley Indians dying due to lack of medical care
11 January 2008 Eight Indians, including five children, died in the Javari Valley in the Brazilian state of Amazonas in December.
Malaysia: Penan receive death threats
9 January 2008 A small community of Penan tribal people in Sarawak, Malaysia, report that an official from the company logging their forests has threatened them with death.
Malaysia: Penan headman found dead, suspected murdered
4 January 2008 Penan tribal headman Kelesau Naan of Sarawak, Malaysia, who went missing on 23 October, has been found dead. His relatives suspect he has been murdered due to his resistance to illegal logging on the Penan’s land.
Kenya: Election violence affects Ogiek
4 January 2008 Survival has received reports that many Ogiek areas are effectively closed off due to the post election violence in Kenya. Police have barricaded roads leading to one area, so that people cannot leave the community.
Ethiopia: Mursi celebrate withdrawal of conservation organisation from their land
4 January 2008 Mursi tribal people living in and around the Omo National Park in Ethiopia are celebrating the withdrawal of conservation organisation African Parks from their land.

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