A/HRC/54/52 were provided settlement in the lands of the Jumma peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts from 1979 to 1985.70 Similarly, between the 1970s and the early 2000s, Indonesia is reported to have implemented a transmigration policy that led to the decline of the Indigenous Papuan population in West Papua so that by 2007, 70 per cent of the population had migrated from other areas. 71 In the last four years, from 2018 to 2022, it has been reported that huge deployments of military units and paramilitary police units into West Papua have caused the mass displacement of civilians.72 38. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination called upon Canada to halt work on the Coastal GasLink pipeline, the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and the Site C dam until free, prior and informed consent was obtained from Indigenous Peoples. The Committee stated that it was “disturbed by forced removal, disproportionate use of force, harassment, and intimidation by law enforcement officials against Indigenous Peoples who peacefully oppose large-scale development projects on their traditional territories”.73 39. Norway facilitates large-scale military exercises regularly with other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) forces in the southern part of the Sami area. The Ministry of Defence and its underlying agencies are required to consult the Sami Parliament and other representatives of Sami interests in cases where measures may affect Sami interests, especially military training and exercises.74 However, it has been reported that the armed forces have also allegedly posed challenges in land use which have resulted in conflicts with Sami rights holders and interests.75 In addition, a recently signed agreement between Finland, Norway and Sweden is reported to have caused an increasing military presence in the Sami region.76 40. Reports of forced evictions of the Karen people from Kaeng Krachan National Park in Thailand in 2011 have noted the destruction of homes and the burning of rice barns by park officials and the military.77 In 2018, the Supreme Administrative Court affirmed that this use of force was in violation of the National Park Act. 78 41. Armed conflict often leads to the displacement of Indigenous Peoples. For example, intensifying armed conflict has resulted in the mass displacement of Indigenous Peoples across Myanmar – it has been reported that in Mutraw District, over 90 per cent of the Indigenous Karen population has been displaced; in Karenni State, 30 per cent of the population; and 10 per cent of the population in Chin State.79 Displacement has also led to degradation of the environment and loss of biodiversity, further undermining the rights of Bedouin people.80 42. States have utilized Indigenous lands for military bases and exercises without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous Peoples concerned. In Australia, the traditional lands of six Aboriginal groups81 have reportedly been used without free, prior and informed consent for military tests, as well as for experimental space and military technologies.82 There 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 10 Submission from Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti. Submission from the Merdeka Secretariat, which coordinates the Merdeka West Papua Support Network. Kerry Rolihlahla Wendanak, Master of Philosophy student at the University of Waikato, New Zealand, presentation at the Expert Seminar, Geneva, December 2022. Decision 1 (100) of 13 December 2019, taken in the framework of the Committee’s early warning and urgent action procedure. Submission from the Government of Norway. Rune Fjellheim, head of the Arctic and Environmental Unit in the Sami Council, presentation at the Expert Seminar, Geneva, December 2022. Ibid. See also Arctic Today, “Updated Nordic defense plans prioritize the North”, 25 November 2022. David Nathaniel Berger, ed., The Indigenous World 2019 (Copenhagen, International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs, 2019), pp. 315 and 316. See also the submission from the International Indian Treaty Council. Berger, The Indigenous World 2019, pp. 315 and 316. Submission from the All Burma Indigenous Peoples’ Alliance. Submission from Justice House. Australia, Department of Defence, “History of the Woomera Prohibited Area”. Submission from the Medical Association for Prevention of War. GE.23-14759