"In Brazil, COVID-19 outbreak paves way for invasion of indigenous lands", 10 Apr 2020

Reports of continuing land invasions, killings of indigenous leaders, and rising numbers of COVID-19 infections inside indigenous reserves has raise concerns about the increased vulnerability of indigenous communities to violence and infection by illegal extraction gangs as the pandemic rages. In Rondônia state, the epicenter of last year’s Amazon fires, members of the Karipuna indigenous people have submitted a complaint to the local Federal Prosecutor’s Office reporting non-indigenous people clearing forest inside their reserve, less than 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the village where the group lives. Fear of the spread of COVID-19 by non-indigenous invaders inside Brazil’s indigenous communities has grown in recent days following reports of the hospitalization and death of a Yanomami teenager. At least five indigenous people have been infected by the virus in Brazil so far, according to a map produced by an NGO advocating for indigenous rights, and at least two indigenous people living in cities have died after being infected... Indigenous leaders and advocates...fear the situation will get worsen... as loggers, land grabbers and illegal miners take advantage of the coronavirus chaos to accelerate their attacks on indigenous territories, emboldened by President Jair Bolsonaro’s rhetoric and reports of a drop in enforcement activities...