Latest news with #IPMSDL
Scoop
09-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Solidarity Statement On The 50th Year Of NAIDOC Week
Thursday, 10 July 2025, 8:33 am Press Release: IPMSDL Photo/Supplied Warm solidarity greetings to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters across the Australian continent. We are overjoyed to send our solidarity to all of you as you observe the 50th year of the National Aboriginal and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) Week. These celebrations remain an important part of Indigenous Peoples' struggle in Australia as you continue to reclaim your history, and forward your demands. This year's theme 'The Next Generation: Strength, Vision, & Legacy' deeply resonates with the international Indigenous movement as Indigenous youth around the world take on greater and more critical tasks in the course of our struggle. Our young Indigenous Peoples are faced with the great task of learning from our ancestors, applying these lessons in leading the fight for land rights and protection of sacred sites, truth-telling and historical justice, and cultural survival and revitalisation. Moreover, it is the young that are most interested in pushing back against climate-catastrophe, and to fight for a world they can live on, and for future generations to prosper in. Colonial Continuities As of today the legacy of colonialism remains deeply entrenched in the systems that rule over Australia. Racism and discrimination is systematized through a long history of colonial occupation. A disproportionate share of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, particularly in remote regions, face significant poverty and deprivation, making them among Australia's most disadvantaged. Racial discrimination and outright neglect has been weaponized to open up Aboriginal lands to plunder, foreign-backed ventures are milking ancestral lands dry through mining activities, even sacred sites of Indigenous Peoples are not spared in the conquest for profit. Greenwashing Colonialism To make matters worse the state and corporate actors use 'green energy' and climate action as schemes to appropriate the ancestral lands of Indigenous Peoples. Recent data shows that over half of these critical mineral projects are built on Indigenous Peoples land. In reality, Indigenous Peoples are dispossessed of their land for mere carbon credits to legitimize capitalism's further destruction of the planet. These bogus solutions should be exposed, and thus forward genuine, pro-people solutions centered on the right to self-determination. Militarism on Stolen Land On top of plundering Indigenous Peoples lands and resources, lands are being used as arenas for imperialist war. The Pine Gap, a United States intelligence facility built on Aboriginal Arrernte land has been operating for almost six decades positioned to collect data in the Indo-Pacific region. It plays an important role in US-NATO's war against China in the region. While Pine Gap remains the beating heart of the US's militarism in Australia, under AUKUS (the trilateral security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States), more ancestral lands are poised to become avenues for military logistics, nuclear infrastructure, and waste facilities. Youth Hold the Fire With the persistence of systemic oppression and land dispossession, the worsening state of the planet and bogus green solutions, and a rise in the global wars and aggression of imperialist countries, young Indigenous Peoples are called upon to carry forward the anti-colonial legacy of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors. Now more than ever, the struggles for the recognition of Indigenous Peoples for Sovereignty and Self-Determination link more clearly to the global fight of peoples against the global system of monopolies, exploitation, plunder, and profit-driven wars. These challenges compel everyone to mobilize and take action. But in the final analysis, the future of this world belongs to the youth, and for the youth alone. Indigenous Youth, Carry the Struggle Forward! Fight for and build a future built on justice, peace, and people-centered development! © Scoop Media
Scoop
30-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Voices Of Power: Regional Exchange And Solidarity Building In Defense Of Indigenous Peoples Rights
In building unity and support for Indigenous women paralegals and rights defenders, IPMSDL gathered Indigenous women partners and members from the Philippines, Northeast India, Bangladesh, West Papua, Burma and Borneo last June 20, 2024 for the 'Voices of Power: Regional Exchange and Solidarity Building in Defense of Indigenous Peoples Rights' in Penang, Malaysia. The regional gathering was one of the side-events during the two-day International Festival for Peoples Rights & Struggles that brought together hundreds of attendees from people's movements from around the world. The regional activity followed a series of online discussions, local para-legal training, rights and anti–judicial harassment campaigning led by Indigenous women. 'We gather to hear the lived experiences and challenges faced by communities and the different but common struggles on Indigenous women and Indigenous Peoples against criminalization due to their defense of their rights, lands and territories,' said Paul Belisario, IPMSDL global coordinator. Opening the event was a traditional prayer and ritual by Indigenous Dayak from Sabah, asking for the ancestors and spirits to bless and guide everyone. Ananya Chakma shared the experiences of Bangladesh's Jumma peoples displaced from the militarized Chittagong Hill Tracts under the guise of development projects. 'In order to occupy the land of Indigenous Peoples, they always target women, children and their families, threatening their lives and safety,' she said. From Manipur, Sorokhaibam Panthoi Chanu and Kiranmala Laishram exposed the brutality following India's military forces using extrajudicial killings, sexual violence, and a militarization. Under the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) which legalized attacks and perpetuated impunity among our women suffer the most,' they stressed, urging the repeal of AFSPA and respect for Indigenous autonomy. Naw Paw Pree from Burma presented accounts of airstrikes on schools and churches, including the March 2024 bombing in Doo Tha Htoo, northern part of Mon State, Burma. 'End military dictatorship and ethnic chauvinism,' she contended. Meanwhile, Filipina activist Mae Fe Ancheta-Templa uplifted the role of Lumad women in Mindanao, portraying them as educators, warriors, and healers despite the continuous militarization and ancestral land theft. Her rallying cry—'Kamalitanan, maghiusa!'—then called for unity amid struggle. Her speech was seconded by Eufemia Cullamat, which emphasized that Lumad women, especially those choosing the road for liberation and revolutionary struggle, have always been sacrificing their lives and becoming martyrs. Sayang Mandabayan of West Papua condemned Indonesia's transmigration program for eroding Papuan identity, capturing their lands and criminalizing and imprisoning Indigenous activists for self-determination. These became a huge toll to women and children left in refugee camps and forcibly removed from their communities. A survivor of political imprisonment, she reminded the world that West Papua bleeds behind silence but they will not disappear. Common in the sharing was the heavy militarization linked to development projects and land grabbing by government and corporate interests. Each also shared how the paralegal training project, network building, sharing of stories and rights campaigning offered overall education and learning, awareness raising and capacity building in terms of IP women rights, IP rights, and immediate paralegal and legal knowledge necessary for IP women to identify steps in protecting themselves, their communities, organizations and families. The event also cemented and initiated the ground work on how Indigenous women from different places can support one another, exchange experiences and meaningful experiences to challenge any attacks and rights violations. Giving solidarity and support, Datuk Dr. Haji Sangkar Rasam, Chairman of Felcra Niaga Sdn Bhd and Head Branch of Peoples Justice Party Keningau, also extended inspirational message and stories of Indigenous Peoples persistence to push for their welfare and own development. In Penang, the affirmation that there is still a lot of work needed to be done for all Indigenous women and Indigenous Peoples further emphasized the key role of solidarity building between and among Indigenous women and communities. The actions and steps to safeguard ancestral lands, the safety and protection of communities and leaders, and the strengthening of local struggles to realize a self–determined future is a step by step journey. And with these regional exchange, bold strides are now being led by brave Indigenous women. The event is made possibe with the support from FIMI-AYNI, The Christensen Fund and Possible Futures.
