June 27, 2022

08:06

Gabriel Abreu – from Amazon Agency

BOA VISTA (RR) – The death of two three-year-old children in the Tirei Community, within the Yanomami Territory, was disclosed this Saturday, 25, by Junior Hekurari, president of the District Council of Indigenous Health Yanomami and Ye’kuana (Condisiyy). According to Hekukari, the deaths were caused by severe pneumonia in the children, who also presented symptoms of diarrhea, dehydration and worms. There is no medicine in the Yanomami communities to treat the diseases.

In a social network, Junior shared the information about the deaths of the children and vented his frustration. “While the president of the Republic is concerned with holding motorcades and even defending his allies who are being arrested, my Yanomami people are suffering the consequences of this genocidal government. Two 3 year old children from the Tirei Community have died from diarrhea, severe pneumonia, dehydration and verminosis. There is a lack of medicine”, stated the president of Condisiyy.

He continues the story stating that the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) does not carry out inspection actions in the Yanomami Land. “The government lacks a sympathetic and human look at our population. There is a lack of actions to remove invaders. Funai is not fulfilling its obligations. It’s a real disregard”, he concludes.

The reportage of AMAZON AGENCY contacted Funai and the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai), but had not received a reply as of the publication of this article.

The lack or scarcity of medical care, coupled with deficient environmental enforcement, pushes the Yanomami into a desperate scenario. It is estimated that 20,000 illegal miners operate in the territory. The mining activity contaminates the rivers with mercury and has caused deformities and diseases in women and children, as pointed out by the indigenous leader of the Yanomami people, Dario Kopenawa, to AMAZON AGENCY.

“The children are coming out with malformations. Women and children are already showing symptoms of itching and also stomach pain, diarrhea and urinary infection, because we are drinking dirty water. It’s not just the water, the whole Yanomami territory is polluted”, warned the vice president of the Hutukara Associação Yanomami.

The Yanonami Land was approved in 1992 and covers 96,000 km² spread over Roraima and Amazonas. The territory of the people, however, extends to Venezuela. More recent data from 2011 indicate a population of 19,000 indigenous Yanomami in Brazilian territory and 16,000 on the Venezuelan side.

Disregard

The neglect of the Yanonami people’s health has been highlighted in several media outlets in Brazil. Last year, the TV show Fantástico, from TV Globo, showed how children diagnosed with malaria die due to lack of medicine in the communities.

In Brazil, health care for the Yanomami is the responsibility of the Special Indigenous Health District Yanomami (DSEI-Y), linked to the Special Indigenous Health Secretariat of the Ministry of Health. The territory is divided between the Yanomami and Ye’kuana ethnicities, distributed in 258 villages, most of them located in remote areas with access exclusively by air or river.

Enforcement actions

In May, the Federal Court in Roraima issued a decision that obliged the federal government, the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama) and the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) to coordinate their actions to combat environmental illegalities in the Yanomami Indigenous Land (TIY) in Roraima.

The measure was the result of a lawsuit filed by the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) requesting the resumption of police operations to remove invaders who promote illegal mining on the indigenous land. The request pointed out that the federal government agencies had been disrespecting previous court decisions that imposed the removal of all miners from the TIY, under penalty of R$ 1 million.

Target of several actions

The MPF of Roraima itself reported that the Yanomami health is the subject of numerous procedures in this Prosecutor’s Office. Among all the measures undertaken, the recent Recommendation No. 1/2021/MPF/AM/RR, issued jointly with the Amazonas State Prosecutor’s Office, stands out. It proposes a profound structural change in the public services provided to the Yanomami and an audit of the use of public resources for indigenous health.

The recommendation was partially complied with and is being followed through Administrative Procedure No. 1.32.000.000241/2022-117. Sesai immediately created an emergency plan for the main health problems in priority regions of the Yanomami Indigenous Territory, valid for 180 days, and 25 professionals were hired to form the health teams.

In 2021, ACP No. 1001192-58.2021.4.01.4200 was filed in order for the Indigenous Health Secretariat to provide meals to patients hospitalized in the health posts on indigenous land, as well as to children and elderly people in a state of malnutrition. The judicialization impelled SESAI to revise its understanding, acquiring foodstuffs for its health establishments.