Islamabad, 10 August 2021 (TDI): EU celebrates the indigenous people of Pakistan that make up 5 percent of the world population of the indigenous communities. August 9, 2021, is celebrated as the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.
In a declaration by the EU High Representative, Joesp Borrell says that now is the time that the world extends its arms to respect and to provide indigenous people with meaningful resources that they should be having at their disposal in the first place.
Access to healthcare, education, security, basic rights are denied to these people and it has resulted in the economic marginalization of these people. Indigenous people are excluded from the official decision making structures on regional to governmental levels. The increase in industrial expansion and violence against indigenous people have left them undefended.
Indigenous people have a special bond that they share with their land and their culture signifies it. Their actions pay homage to the land they live in, they are known to be the most respectful and loving of the land they live in. Their political involvement, economy, and activism are all tied to the mother earth. These people are involved in the protection of 80% of biodiversity in the world. The EU representative makes it clear that the EU is committed to the protection of these communities in line with the UN Declaration in the Rights of Indigenous People.
