Land Invasion In Nicaragua: Specialists Assure There Are Indigenous Communities In "Risk of Extinction"

According to reports from the organization Center for Justice and International Law (

CEJIL), the indigenous communities of the

Miskitu ethnic group, from Nicaragua, could be on the verge of extinction because they are in a serious situation of abandonment and vulnerability because of the constant invasion of their territories.

"We

seek to make visible the problem and its seriousness so that the State of Nicaragua will make them leave as soon as possible. It is imminent that they give an answer because, otherwise, the indigenous

Miskitu culture is at an irreversible risk of being extinguished," said the Deputy Director of

CEJIL,

Marcela Martino.

Lottie Cunningham, president of the Center for Justice and Human Rights of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua (CEJUDHCAN), affirmed that there is "a humanitarian crisis because of the increase in occupation by settlers (non-indigenous people) in indigenous territories." "There has been a massive invasion of settlers that has been displacing indigenous communities from their territories and this violates not only territorial rights but also the right to food and health," she said. Cunningham also added that many "children have died of hunger," because of the loss of land for agriculture.

According to

Infobae, Constantino Rommel, a

Miskitu indigenous from the France Sirpi community, said that the invasion of land ranges from forests to agricultural plots of indigenous communities. "Our resistance is ancestral and will remain, because a

miskitu without land is not

miskitu. From the earth we come and to the earth we go. This is a sacred value of our life and culture," he said.

The report revealed that since 2015; They have documented 20 murders of indigenous people, and cases of violence, plus rape against women. The communities and the study carried out a demand that the Government of Nicaragua comply with the protection measures ordered by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. These measures guarantee the integrity of the territories of indigenous peoples.

In addition, they request the State to investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for committing human rights violations to indigenous Miskito communities.