Brazil’s government is preparing a task force with the aim to remove illegal miners from the Yanomami reservation
The government of Brazil has announced that they are in the process of creating a task force that will soon launch an operation to remove illegal gold miners in the Amazon rainforest.
The force will be made up of several agencies of the government as well as enforcement bodies, as per a statement by indigenous leader Joenia Wapichana on Tuesday, January 31, as per Reuters.
This decision comes after President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva came into power and pledged to wildcat miners from the Yanomami reservation.
Silva has also appointed Wapichana, who is expected to become a part of his government by being the first indigenous person to head the country’s indigenous affairs agency, Funai.
Discussing the decision of the government to build a task force, Wapichana said, “We have to let the police forces organize the operation in secret; the message from President Lula is that it will happen soon and cannot delay long”.
She added, “The task forces, as in past offensives against illegal miners, will involve the Federal Police, the army, the environmental protection agency Ibama, several ministries, and Funai”.
As per government estimates over 20,000 wildcat miners are reported to be searching for gold, which is in the region of the country´s largest indigenous reserve.
Hundreds of children in the region have also been reported dead and a medical emergency has also been declared in the region after water in the river has been polluted with mercury.
Miners use mercury to separate gold from its ore and the earth, as per Brazilian officials.
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