Moment when an indigenous tribe threatens workers on their territory in the Indonesian rainforest before fleeing when the bulldozer driver cuts the engine on them
- You can see two members of the Hongana Manyawa tribe showing their frustration
This is the moment tribesmen threaten workers on their territory in an Indonesian rainforest before running away as a bulldozer driver approaches them.
The video, whose content has been described as evidence of a “human rights catastrophe in the making”, shows two men from the Hongana Manyawa, a tribe in Halmahera, living far from outsiders.
You can see the tribesmen standing across the river and assessing the situation. One of the two men, both holding spears, points in the direction of the vehicle and holds a sharp object above his head as he drives forward.
He appears to prepare to launch the object at the workers as the other man ducks away.
In response, the bulldozer driver revs the machine, causing the men to flee.
A Hongana Manyawa man holds up a stick to the bulldozer workers
He appears to launch the small stick at the workers before they flee
Caroline Pearce, director of Survival International, said: ‘This video documents a human rights catastrophe in the making.
“It shows that the logging and mining activities on Halmahera are penetrating deep into the rainforests of the Hongana Manyawa.”
An estimated 300 to 500 Hongana Manyawa people live in the forested interior of Halmahera, part of Indonesia’s North Moluccas province.
Large parts of their territory have been allocated to mining companies, and in many areas the excavators are already at work.
Weda Bay Nickel (WBN) – a company partly owned by French mining company Eramet – has a huge mining concession on the island that overlaps with the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa areas.
WBN began mining in 2019 and now operates the largest nickel mine in the world.
German chemical company BASF plans to collaborate with Eramet to build a refinery complex in Halmahera. The video was recorded near the WBN concession.
In response, the bulldozer driver revs up, causing the men to flee
Pearce added: ‘Survival has been warning Eramet, BASF and the electric car companies that need nickel for their batteries for months that continued mining in this area will destroy the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa, just as similar projects are destroying other uncontacted peoples in other countries. countries have destroyed. parts of the world.
“If they continue after seeing this video, it would be an act of staggering and brazen disregard for both international law and human life.
“These mining companies must stay out of Hongana Manyawa land, period. We call on the Indonesian government to urgently recognize and protect the territory of Hongana Manyawa.”
Halmahera’s rainforests are usually cleared before nickel is mined.
The destruction of the Hongana Manyawa’s land is illegal under international law, which states that the free, prior and informed consent of the Hongana Manyawa is required for any industrial project on their territory.
Two nomadic Hongana Manyawa from Halmahera said in a video earlier this year that the forest has been theirs ‘since the beginning of time’.
“So please go to them and tell them I don’t give permission,” one of them insists.