Garimpeiros are captured by indigenous people and handed over to agents of the National Force in Yanomami Land; VIDEO | Roraima

Garimpeiros are captured by indigenous people and handed over to the National Force in Yanomami Land

A group of 12 miners were captured by indigenous people, this Tuesday (23), in Yanomami Land, according to the Urihi Yanomami Association (UAY). The indigenous people handed over the invaders to agents of the National Force who are in the territory (watch the video above).

The miners were captured in an area known as “Malária”, in the Homoxi region, one of the most affected by mining in the territory, which is between Roraima and Amazonas.

In the video it is possible to see the group of invaders, 10 men and two women, arriving on foot at the location where there was a National Force team. Then, the indigenous people appear with arrows and shotguns.

“[Eles] They did this because they were witnessing their only means of consuming water being contaminated by mercury, due to the presence of miners in the locality”, stated the association in a letter sent to the Federal Public Ministry, Government House, Ministry of Indigenous Peoples ( MPI), Federal Police and National Foundation of Indigenous Peoples (Funai).

To g1, the MPI informed that the miners are under escort from the National Force and, on the morning of this Wednesday (24), they will be taken by aircraft to the PF headquarters in Boa Vista. O g1 He also contacted the other bodies mentioned, but received no response until the last update of this report.

In the document on the capture of the miners, signed by President Júnior Hekurari, Urihi called for faster operations to remove the invaders, especially in the most isolated areas. In the association’s assessment, operations become inefficient if they are not accompanied by monitoring and specific strategies at the territory’s entry points.

“The operations already carried out fall far short of the need for protection required to stop a new expansion of illegal mining within the Yanomami Indigenous Land, highlighting that it is still possible to detect the presence of invaders in these regions with episodes of violence.”

From federal agencies, Urihi asked for a joint effort to immediately remove the invaders from the site, preserving the physical integrity of the population, and of the Yanomami who captured the criminals.

The Yanomami Land has been in a health emergency since January 2023, when the federal government began creating actions to assist the indigenous people, such as sending health professionals and basic food baskets. In addition to sending security forces to the region to stop the activities of miners.

The Ministry of Indigenous Peoples (MPI) estimates that around seven thousand illegal miners continue to be active in the territory. The number of invaders decreased by 65% ​​in one year, compared to the beginning of federal government operations, when there were 20,000 invaders in the territory.

In March this year, 600 indigenous people, including patients and companions, were living in the Yanomami Indigenous Health House (Casai), in the capital Boa Vista. The place receives indigenous people who have more serious illnesses and need to receive health care from hospitals in the capital.

To combat the permanence of invaders in the territory, federal government security forces launched operation Catrimani II. The new phase of withdrawal of miners occurs after the installation of the Government House in Roraima, which aims to monitor and face the Yanomami crisis.