Teams sent to the Yanomami region face threats

The federal government is investigating alleged threats to health professionals and federal civil servants who were sent to Roraima to help the Yanomami Indians. According to the members of the delegation of the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship who arrived in Boa Vista yesterday (29), the need to ensure the physical safety of the health and rescue teams is another difficulty in facing the health crisis that affects the largest of them. Exclusive original usufruct right reserve in the country.

“We are very concerned about the scenario of human rights violations and insecurity, in particular [quanto à segurança] Indigenous leaders. We’re also concerned about the sponsorship teams [aos yanomami]”There are reports of threats to the teams,” said the department’s executive secretary, Rita Oliveira, when revealing to reporters.

The Executive Secretary avoided speaking out about intimidation, and confirmed that the portfolio was already “transferring measures,” including with the Department of Justice and Public Security, to ensure the integrity of professionals and residents on Indigenous lands, about two hours away by plane. from the state capital.

“Our task now is to take some urgent protection measures and continue the dialogue with local authorities to understand where public facilities are failing to serve Indigenous communities. […] Noting the difficulty in accessing the reserve that stretches to the border with Venezuela and has long been the target of illegal activities by miners and loggers, Rita added, teams must be able to do the work safely and soundly. .

A delegation from the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship arrived in Boa Vista on Sunday, whose mission is to establish a diagnosis of the health and humanitarian crisis that, according to the federal government, has caused about 570 deaths from preventable causes. Children of the Yanomami original lands, only in the past four years. Ministry of Health teams visiting the area a few weeks ago found hundreds of adults and children suffering from malnutrition or malaria. There is also a situation of food shortages, as the rivers that supply the approximately 26,000 residents of the reserve are polluted with mercury from illegal mining, among other problems, such as the destruction of the forest.

In addition to visiting the Boa Vista health unit where Indian patients requiring hospital care are taken, members of the ministerial group will meet with Indigenous leaders and representatives of federal and state agencies in order to obtain information that will help them draft a report on potential human rights violations.

“Our mission here is also to investigate deficiencies in public policies for the protection of Indigenous peoples, particularly in the area of ​​the rights of children and adolescents. In addition to the causes of infant mortality, we are investigating the possibility of illegal adoptions of Indigenous children; cases of illegal placement of children in orphanages; Sexual abuse and pedophilia; failures in health care [prestado a] Indigenous pregnant women and in pediatric consultations and in dealing with early childhood malnutrition of Indigenous children” Brazil agency The National Secretary for Children’s and Adolescent’s Rights, Ariel Castro, explained that skepticism has reached liability actions at both the federal, state and municipal levels, in the past four years.

Also among the ministerial entourage are the National Secretary for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights, Isadora Brandao, and the National Human Rights Investigator, Bruno Renato.

humanitarian crisis

Although indigenous entities and bodies such as the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) have already decried the lack of assistance to communities in the Yanomami indigenous lands for a long time, new images of malnourished children and adults, as well as health units crowded with malnourished people. Malaria and other diseases have attracted public attention in recent weeks and prompted the federal government to implement emergency measures to help the Yanomami.

For the current government team, the situation has been exacerbated by “criminal practices” and “extremely serious violations of basic rights caused by illegal mining.” “There are strong elements that point to willful omission in terms of public policies. We have to understand these responsibilities and address them appropriately,” commented Rita.

Two weeks ago, it was The Ministry of Health sent to Roraima Technical teams responsible for preparing health diagnoses for approximately 30,400 Yanomami indigenous people. At the time, the initiative was heralded as a first step by the federal government to outline, in partnership with civil society organizations, an “unprecedented new strategy by the federal government to re-establish” the Yanomami’s access to “good health”.

When visiting the Native Health House (Casai) in Boa Vistawhere the Yanomami who need hospital care are taken, the Sursuku and Shiti pillars, inside the Aboriginal Reserve, technicians come across children and elderly people in serious health, with severe malnutrition, as well as numerous cases of malaria, acute respiratory infections and other diseases.

Five days after the local teams began working, the ministry declared a public health emergency of national importance and established the Public Health Emergency Operations Center (COE-Y), responsible for coordinating actions to be implemented, including distributing resources on restoring services and communicating with state managers. and municipalities of the Unified Health System (SUS).

In the past 21st, the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and several members of the Federal Government, such as the Minister of Health, Nicia Trindade, and the Indigenous Peoples, Sonia Guajara, went to Boa Vista, where they visited Kasai. The president promised to involve several ministries to overcome the serious health crisis. On the same day, Brazilian Air Force (FAB) planes transported about 1.26 tons of food for distribution to the Yanomami communities.

On the last day (24), Specialists from the national force of SUS began to strengthen the service At the Kasai Indigenous Health Support Home in Boa Vista. At the request of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, On the 25th, the Palestinian Police launched an investigation to investigate possible genocidal practices, non-assistance, and environmental crimes, as well as other wrongful actions against the Yanomami.

On Friday (27), prof The first field hospital created by the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) has come into operation in the state capital, With thirty military health workers tending to a portion of the sick that had been removed from Aboriginal lands, about two hours away by plane.

“We will build a plan with short, medium and long term measures based on the report [das equipes técnicas] that we receive”, The Minister of Health, Nicia Trindade, announced on the 26th. It’s a very dangerous situation. A framework that requires inter-ministerial actions. As I said [o xamã e líder yanomami] Davey Kopenawa, Hunger is the tip of the iceberg, a terrible indicator, but the reason [do problema] Not hunger, but illegal mining, which has disrupted forms of life, polluted rivers, and created conditions for an increase in the incidence of malaria through excavations where water accumulates.”

“[Esta] The situation is not disclosed now. It has been condemned many times by indigenous and allied organizations. Between November 2018 and December 2022, there were six judicial decisions, in various jurisdictions, condemning the state for taking urgent necessary measures, maintains the Indigenous Missionary Council (Cimi), a local body linked to the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB).