Public Defenders’ Office urges government to carry out census in indigenous communities

The Public Defender’s Office (DPU) on Wednesday recommended the Brazilian government take measures to administer this year’s census in the communities of the Yanomami and Wajãpi indigenous peoples, in the Northern states of Amazonas and Roraima.

The DPU sent a letter to the head of official statistics bureau IBGE, which recently admitted it will not be able to finish the census by the end of the year.

According to the DPU, the failure to carry out the census in all indigenous communities is a severe violation of human rights.

The office said the agency should hire helicopters to transport census takers to far-flung communities.

The DPU’s recommendation is based on the estimate there are 50,000 illegal miners in or around the two indigenous lands, and “murders have been constant.” Also, similar operations with aircraft for census takers have been carried out before.

“An adequate census in the region will be able to measure the deaths of indigenous people that occurred in conflicts with miners,” the DPU said in a press statement.

The DPU requested the IBGE to report back in five days.

The 2022 census has suffered with a lack of workers and with the refusal of some households in answering questions.

• #government
• #indigenousRights