This International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (IDWIP), the Asia Young Indigenous Peoples Network raises the triumphs of the Indigenous youth movement across Asia and recognizes the tireless efforts made to strengthen solidarity between different communities and organizations. The months leading up to this year’s IDWIP have not been easy on us Indigenous Youth, with most of our brothers and sisters experiencing incessant exploitation and oppression through the dispossession of ancestral lands and development aggression by corporations and International Finance Institutions. And yet, despite these challenges, we continue the struggle for our rights and the defense of our ancestral lands.
The Indigenous Youth have shown their growing capacity to become leaders of their own communities and organizations. We salute the brave, militant youth who have stood up against grave injustices, such as those in West Papua and their fight for liberation against the violence and continuous occupation of Indonesia, and those in Bangladesh who demanded a just and fair system that led to the ousting of a fascist regime. May these actions continue to inspire us in advancing the calls and demands of Indigenous Youth for land, rights, self-determination, justice, and liberation.
AYIPN’s ongoing campaign for Indigenous Lands in Indigenous Hands (ILIH) continues the struggle to reclaim and protect the lands that rightfully belong to Indigenous Peoples. The defense of land is the defense of our ways of life, our identity, and our existence and is integral to the fight for our rights. However, this struggle requires more than just our resistance. We call on governments to properly recognize Indigenous rights to self-determination in their laws and policies, in line with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This includes ensuring that Indigenous Peoples themselves have full governance over their lands and territories to guarantee their protection and sustainability for future generations.
This IDWIP, let’s reaffirm our commitment to fight for the rights of the Indigenous Youth despite all attacks targeted at us. Let’s take on the challenge to carry on the struggle from our elders, from all the activists and fighters who came before us who fought for the rights of Indigenous Peoples. Let’s organize and push the Indigenous Youth movement to grow ever stronger! Indigenous Youth, fight for our land, fight for our rights, fight for our future!
Reference:
Funa-ay Claver,
Secretary General
mariafunaayclaver@gmail.com
