A/76/202 peoples in urban areas may rather perceive themselves as “an extension of the home territory”. 65 43. The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples asserts the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination, to determine their own development, autonomy and identity. However, urbanization challenges these rights, including when traditional authorities and systems of justice are replaced with public institutions. 44. Urbanization often involves adverse collective impact on indigenous peoples’ cultural identity. 66 Discrimination against and stigmatization of indigenous peoples in urban areas may lead them to conceal their indigenous heritage once away from their communities in order to gain access to economic opportunities in urban areas. In that context, indigenous peoples may feel unsafe speaking their language or wearing traditional clothes in public or experience difficulty carrying out religious practices. 67 For example, in the Congo, indigenous peoples “saw their desire for a better life blocked by discriminatory attitudes that prevented them from being successful at school, obtaining employment or participating in public life”. As such, “this desire to integrate and find a better life may act as incentive for relinquishing their indigenous identity”. 68 45. Indigenous peoples may also encounter difficulties in urban environments owing to loss of family and community ties. 69 Feelings of assimilation and alienation can lead to suicide, substance abuse, homelessness, crime and physical and sexual violence. 70 For example, in Brazil, there are high rates of suicide among the Guarani Kaiowá young people, who were removed from their lands and forced to live in crowded urban reservations or by roadsides. 71 The majority of indigenous peoples in Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Greenland and Sapmi, live in urban areas and have significantly higher suicide rates than the non-indigenous population. 72 46. In some regions, indigenous cross-border migrants settling in urban areas may be mislabelled by officials as pertaining to non-indigenous identity categories, such as Latino or Hispanic, owing to language barriers and the lack of awareness about indigenous peoples and their migratory status. That confusion contributes to the critical gap in services and resources to address mental health issues, substance abuse and the revictimization of a historically traumatized community. The misclassification of indigenous peoples by border security and immigration officials can impede the communication of asylum claims and requests for urgent medical attention, leading to life-threatening situations. 73 Moreover, the lack of identity documents can lead to increased vulnerability when migrating, including difficulties with legalizing entry, limiting access to public health and education services and restricting freedom of movement. 47. Indigenous peoples living in urban areas experience language barriers in terms of access to justice when interpretation services are not provided during judicial proceedings and they suffer disproportionate conviction rates and overincarceration. __________________ 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 21-10081 Ibid., and submission by the National Association of Friendship Centres. State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples (United Nations publication, 2009), p. 52. UN-Habitat, Urban Indigenous Peoples and Migration, p. 40. A/HRC/45/34/Add.1, para. 31. United Nations Development Programme, Indigenous Voices in Asia-Pacific: Identifying the Information and Communication Needs of Indigenous Peoples (Bangkok, 2012), p. 11. Nathaniel J. Pollock and others, “Global incidence of suicide among indigenous peoples: a systematic review”, BMC Medicine, vol. 16, No. 1 (2018), pp. 1–17; and Yin Paradies, “Colonisation, racism and indigenous health”, Journal of Population Research, vol. 33, No. 1 (2016), pp. 83–96. E/C.19/2021/6; CRC/C/BRA/CO/2-4; and A/HRC/33/42/Add.1, para. 22. A/HRC/36/46/Add.2, para. 52; A/HRC/27/52/Add.2, para. 29; and A/HRC/18/35/Add.4, para. 61. Submission by the International Mayan League. 13/20