UN Session on Indigenous Issues
Govts urged to ensure rights to land
A correspondent, New York
The Asian Indigenous Peoples' Caucus has urged the governments to recognise and strengthen the traditional and customary laws of ethnic communities in order to protect their rights to land. It also called for mapping communal lands with a concrete plan for the protection of natural resources. The Asian Caucus made the call on the second day of the sixth session of UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues being held at the UN Headquarters, New York. More than 2,500 indigenous representatives from across the world are attending the session that began on May 14. "For generations, indigenous peoples worldwide have been living in harmony with nature but are now facing a grave threat due to the alienation of land occurring at a rapid pace. The land they used to protect for generations are being taken away without their consent for the so-called development projects which the indigenous peoples have no control or participation," said Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of Bangladesh Adivasi Forum, on behalf of the Asian Caucus. Meanwhile, Rebang Dewan, a Chakma schoolboy from Rangamati, who won the International Competition on the Permanent Forum's Visual Logo identifier, received the award from Victoria Tauly-Corpuz, chairperson of the UN Forum. Special events like seminars, film shows, book launching programmes, cultural receptions, interactive dialogues between UN agencies and indigenous peoples and photo exhibitions are being held during the session.
| 
