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70. The suspension of rural air carriers has greatly affected remote Nordic
communities, effectively ending with little notice the provision of food, medici ne,
personal protective equipment, mail, freight and any other essential items and
preventing urgent evacuation to hospitals or protection shelters. 98
71. With regard to livelihoods, some indigenous peoples in Asia have reportedly
been prohibited from performing their traditional subsistence activities such as
fishing, farming or entering forests to collect forest products. 99 Many face the
dilemma of either harvesting their crops, notwithstanding the risk of crippling fines
or violence for breaking curfews, or seeing their harvest fail, which entails a loss of
income from cash crops and the threat of impeding famine. 100 For example, police
violence against women seeking to sell items in the street or gathering wild produce
in the forest was reported. 101 Indigenous peoples selling artwork or earning income
through cultural performances were particularly affected by the abrupt halt to tourism.
72. In urban contexts, indigenous workers rely largely on the informal and labour
markets. Construction, domestic and other daily workers, in particular those with
disabilities, were the to be first hit by job losses. 102 Street vendors and homeless
people have been banned from the streets as a result of lockdowns and curfews. The
closure of public transport prevents those living farther away from reaching their
workplaces. Domestic workers have been affected when their employers feared virus
transmission. 103 Reports from Latin America and Asia indicate that thousands of
indigenous persons living in urban areas were left with no other choice but to return
to their communities, as they could no longer afford to pay rent or buy food. 104
Migrants who were working across borders have found themselves stranded in border
regions in destitute conditions with limited access to basic amen ities.
Access to government financial aid
73. Indigenous peoples have not had equal access to government-led financial support
during or following confinement. 105 In certain countries, the distribution of such relief
has relied on databases of vulnerable peoples which did not include a comprehensive list
of all indigenous peoples in need. 106 In some cases, civil society intervention was
necessary for Governments to adapt relief packages, by replacing, for example, canned
food with culturally appropriate food items such as dried fish. 107 In other cases, financial
relief could be claimed only in cities, requiring isolated communities to take risks and
travel closer to pandemic hotspots. 108 Financial compensation and other measures to
boost national economies have privileged larger companies over the small family
businesses typical among indigenous communities. 109
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20-09737
Joint submission by the Indian Law Resource Center, the Alaska Native Women’s Resource
Center and the National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center.
Submissions by the Organization for Community Development and LILAK (Purple Action for
Indigenous Women’s Rights); and joint submission by Dhaatri Trust and partners.
Submission by the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.
Submissions by Centro de Estudio e Investigaciones Mapuche and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.
Joint submission by Nepalese indigenous women’s organizations.
Submission by LILAK (Purple Action for Indigenous Women’s Rights).
Submissions by Oxfam International and the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact.
Submission by the Tebtebba Foundation.
Joint submission by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and partners.
Submission by the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesiastical Network.
Submission by Rede Pró-Yanomami e Ye’kwana and joint submission by the WakuBorun and
Pariri Indigenous Association.
Submission by the Sami Parliament of Sweden.
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