Expulsion of Illegal Settlers on Indigenous Land Begins for Brazilian Government

In a decision that will have an impact on thousands of people who live in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, Brazil’s government has started expelling thousands of non-Indigenous people from two native regions.

The Apyterewa and Trincheira Bacaja lands in Para state were intended to be given back to their original inhabitants, according to a statement from the Brazilian intelligence agency ABIN. It was unclear if the removal of non-Indigenous people had been entirely peaceful.

In the Para state, the territories are situated close to the towns of Sao Felix do Xingu, Altamira, Anapu, and Senador Jose Porfirio. The Brazilian government claimed that the operation had been ordered by the highest court and other justices.

More than 10,000 non-Indigenous individuals are thought to reside in the two territories, according to indigenous organisations. 51 settlements are home to up to 2,500 Indigenous people, according to ABIN.

“The presence of strangers on Indigenous land threatens the integrity of the Indigenous [people] and causes other damages, such as the destruction of forests,” the agency said in its statement. It was also mentioned that 1,600 households were residing there illegally, some of which were engaged in gold and cattle mining. “They also destroy native vegetation.”

According to government data, the Apyterewa area has the greatest deforestation of any Indigenous land in Brazil for four years in a row. In September, video obtained by local media and circulated on social media revealed hundreds of non-Indigenous people residing in a recently constructed town with bars, restaurants, and churches located deep within the Parakana territory.

The Brazilian Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, the environmental protection agency IBAMA, the federal police, and the armed forces were just a few of the authorities that took part in the action on Monday. Several of the organizations’ authority was restricted, and they did little to defend the lands of Indigenous peoples between 2019 and 2022 under the far-right presidency of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, has started to rebuild environmental protection organizations and established eight Indigenous-only protected zones. Thousands of gold miners were forcibly removed from the vast Yanomami Indigenous territory in the northern state of Roraima not long after the start of his administration.

This year, state and federal officials intervened in the Alto Rio Guama territory, removing land encroachers. Those who did not willingly vacate were warned of forceful eviction, with authorities committing to dismantle unauthorized roads and structures. The vast majority of illegal occupants left on their own accord.

Recent trespasses into such areas led Brazil’s highest court to uphold Indigenous land rights last Thursday. This came after it rejected a lawsuit supported by farmers attempting to prevent an Indigenous community from enlarging their land claim.

In the legal dispute, the state of Santa Catarina proposed that 5 October 1988, the day Brazil’s constitution was enacted, should serve as the cut-off for Indigenous groups to either be living on the land or lawfully seeking its return. However, nine out of the eleven supreme court justices dismissed this stance, marking a verdict with nationwide repercussions.