A/HRC/54/52 52. Sometimes, where Indigenous Peoples live along international borders, State interest in controlling migration causes increased police and military presence on Indigenous lands. Alternatively, Indigenous land can play a significant role in “protecting” national territories on the border, particularly where State authorities are lacking: this burden is often overlooked by the State and others.103 53. The rights of Indigenous Peoples whose territories lie on the United States-Mexico border have been affected by the increased militarization of the United States border. United States policies implemented under the premise of ensuring national security run directly counter to article 36 of the Declaration, and could have the effect of criminalizing the cultural, social and economic ties of Indigenous groups whose territories cross the border. 104 The Tohono O’odham reservation currently houses three “forward operating bases/law enforcement centers” for the United States Border Patrol and United States Customs and Border Protection. 105 This increasingly militarized approach is a significant impediment to maintaining social, cultural, spiritual and economic ties with members across the border.106 The imposition of border patrols, militarized personnel, virtual surveillance and border walls makes cross-border ceremonies, pilgrimages, hunting, gathering plants and medicines, trade, commerce, and other cross-border religious practices difficult.107 54. In instances where Indigenous Peoples live in the territory of several neighbouring States and where States do not maintain friendly relations or States are in conflict, there is a risk of being portrayed as taking different sides of a conflict, creating an atmosphere of distrust both within and outside of the community. The closure of international borders exacerbates problems, including the work of Indigenous organizations working across borders.108 55. Since the beginning of the armed conflict in Ukraine,109 cross-border Inuit and Sami cooperation has been seriously affected. Unilateral coercive measures and response measures have allegedly resulted in travel restrictions, and overall communication challenges, and have blocked bank services, limiting the ability to pay Sami employees across borders. Tensions within the Sami people have created mistrust between those living in different countries, 110 which resulted in suspension of the cooperation by the Sami organizations in the Nordic countries. Moreover, the prospective NATO membership of Finland and Sweden has the potential for significant militarization of Indigenous Peoples’ lands in these two States and reciprocally in the north-west of the Russian Federation. E. Rights of Indigenous women 56. Article 22 (2) of the Declaration reminds States of their obligation to take measures to ensure Indigenous women and children enjoy the full protection and guarantees against all forms of violence and discrimination, at both the individual level and the collective level. The collective dimension to the violence that Indigenous women and girls face is often overlooked and forms an important part of their experience of violence. 111 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 GE.23-14759 See A/HRC/EMRIP/2019/2/Rev.1. Angelique EagleWoman, “Fencing off the eagle and the condor, border politics, and Indigenous Peoples”, ABA Section of Environment, Energy and Resources: National Resources and Environment, vol. 23, No. 2 (Fall 2008), pp. 33–36. Submission from the International Indian Treaty Council. Shin Imai and Kathryn Gunn, “Chapter 8: Indigenous belonging: membership and identity in the UNDRIP: articles 9, 33, 35 and 36”, in The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: A Commentary, Jessie Hohmann and Marc Weller, eds. (Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford University Press, 2018). Felicity Schaeffer, University of California, Santa Cruz, presentation at the Expert Seminar, Geneva, December 2022. Alexey Tsykarev, member of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, presentation at the Expert Seminar, Geneva, December 2022. See https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/ukraine. Rune Fjellheim, presentation at the Expert Seminar, Geneva, December 2022. A/HRC/50/26, para. 71. 13