Illegal gold miners shot at an indigenous village in Northern Brazil causing villagers to seek shelter on May 10, The Observer reported.
Gold miners opened fire from three motor boats at the indigenous Yanomami village Palimiú located in the Roraima state in Northern Brazil, leading villagers to fearfully run for their lives, The Observer reported. Federal investigators arrived the next day to investigate the incident resulting in open gunfire between the police and gold miners, the Amazonia Real reported.
The May 10 attacks led to the deaths of three miners and left one villager injured after they responded to the gunfire by shooting arrows and hunting rifles at them, BBC News reported.
Several attacks have taken place between miners and the villagers in recent days, leading to the death of two children suspected to have drowned while fleeing the gunfire, Hekurari Yanomami said in a May 15 statement, according to The Observer.
Junior Hekurari Yanomami, the president of the Council for Yanomami and Ye’kuanna Indigenous Health (Condisi-YY) told The Observers’ France 24 team that the gunfire is the third attack gold miners have propelled on the Palimiú villagers in less than a month. The villagers set up a barrier for health purposes which has made it difficult for miners to travel to their mining sites which has led to several attacks.
“The Palimiú community set up a health barrier in a strategic location, which the miners struggled to get past. On April 24, the Yanomami intercepted the miner’s boats and their fuel. That same day, there was an exchange of gunfire in Palimiú, which we reported to authorities. A second attack took place on April 27. However, the most serious attack took place on Monday, May 10,” Hekurari Yanomami said.
Garimpeiros armados invadem território Yanomami e atiram contra indígenas https://t.co/AbJC6O7j7j
— Brasil 247 (@brasil247) May 10, 2021
A local group, Hekuari Yanomami, wrote a letter to the United Nations requesting a permanent presence of authorities in the Yanomami region to ensure the people’s protection and safety, according to The Observer. Indigenous rights organizations expressed fear of a massacre as miners continuously attack indigenous people. (RELATED: Nearly A Dozen Miners Remain Trapped After Two Bodies Were Recovered In Nicaragua Gold Mine Collapse)
Since 2019, around 20,000 gold miners have established operations in the Yanomami territory, The Observer reported. Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro signed a bill in 2020 that would allow miners to operate in indigenous territories. The bill has currently not been approved.
A judge previously ruled that mining must be removed from indigenous territories but the mining continues to increase regardless, according to The Observer.