In news– Recently, a British journalist and an Indigenous affairs expert went missing in a remote part of Brazil’s Amazon region. The duo were last seen in Vale do Javari, the western section of the Brazilian Amazon named after the Javari river, which forms the country’s border with Peru.
About Vale do Javari-
- The region where Phillips and Pereira went missing is spread over 85,444 sq km and it is home to “the greatest concentration of isolated groups in the Amazon and the world”.
- The area is home to 14 different indigenous tribes with nearly 6,000 inhabitants and are known to reject contact with the outside world.
- Some of the tribes belonging to the region are Warikama Djapar tribe, Matus tribe, the Isolados do Rio Quixito, Isolados do Itaquai (Korubo), Isolados do Jandiatuba, Isolados do Alto Jutai, Isolados do Sao Jose, Isolados do Rio Branco, Isolados do Medio Javari and Isolados do Jaquirana-Amburus.
- Some of the indegenous people belonging to this region are Matis, the Matses, the Kulina.
- While the communities living in the Vale do Javari have been granted exclusive territorial rights in Brazil’s 1988 constitution and then in 2001 under the demarcation of indigenous territory, the area has been witnessing increasing illegal gold prospecting and poaching.
- The region also forms part of an international cocaine trafficking route, with gold being exchanged for drugs and arms, consequently making it a hotspot for violent crimes.
Source: the Indian express
