By Miriam Karmali, From Freedom United

Indigenous communities are on the frontlines resisting environmental destruction and protecting vital ecosystems. They’re fighting for a better world for all of us and risking their lives in the process.[1] These communities are also counted among the populations made most vulnerable to human trafficking.[2]

Today is World Indigenous Peoples Day, so read and share our report exposing the unique structural inequalities indigenous communities face and how the climate crisis is increasing trafficking risks. 

Learn more!

The era of global warming is over and “the era of global boiling has arrived.”[3] This was the UN secretary general, António Guterres’, chilling warning in July 2023 during what is set to be the hottest month ever recorded. 

In the same month, the UN Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, Siobhán Mullally, warned that climate justice and urgent action to address the climate crisis are essential to meaningfully addressing trafficking.[4]

This has been the clarion call of indigenous peoples around the world for decades. The climate crisis and environmental degradation is making it increasingly difficult for indigenous communities to live off traditional lands.[5] This places them at greater risk of having to accept exploitative work as their livelihoods are affected, leading to increases in forced displacement. 

Indigenous peoples are already at higher risk of trafficking due to a myriad of factors perpetuated by the legacy of colonization and neo-colonial practices, including extractivism[6] in their territories whereby natural resources are dangerously depleted by transnational companies. 

On World Indigenous Peoples Day, share our report showing why the anti-trafficking sector must do more to stand in solidarity with the estimated 370 million indigenous people around the world fighting for their rights.  
 

Explore the report here!

In solidarity, 

Miriam and the team supporting the Freedom United community 

[1] https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/decade-defiance/#decade-killings-globally 

[2] https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/233942.pdf 

[3] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/jul/27/scientists-july-world-hottest-month-record-climate-temperatures 

[4] https://www.ohchr.org/en/statements/2023/07/achieving-sdgs-and-climate-justice-essential-prevention-trafficking-persons-un 

[5] https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/let-us-be-heard-indigenous-youth-speak-climate-justice 

[6] https://www.culturalsurvival.org/news/cultural-appropriation-another-form-extractivism-indigenous-communities