Although it is illegal for outsiders to enter the Jarawa reserve, poachers are camping for days at a time in the tribe’s forest, hunting the animals they depend on and bringing disease, violence and exploitation.
Adding to the tribe’s problems, the islands’ main highway (known as the Andaman Trunk Road) cuts through their forest, bringing poachers, settlers and tourists. In 2002, India’s supreme court ordered that the road should be closed, but the local authorities have refused to comply.
In 1999 and 2006, the Jarawa suffered outbreaks of measles – a disease that has wiped out many tribes worldwide following contact with outsiders.
The government’s ‘Jarawa Policy’ states that medical treatment of the Jarawa should take place within their reserve, and that they should only be moved to hospitals when ‘intensive care’ is required. However, Jarawa have repeatedly been taken on potentially very dangerous trips to urban hospitals for minor ailments such as cuts or colds, significantly increasing their exposure to potentially deadly illnesses.
Please write to the Indian government using this text or your own words:
I am extremely concerned about the Jarawa people of the Andaman Islands. Settlers are entering their reserve, hunting the animals they depend on, and bringing disease, violence and exploitation. If this continues, the Jarawa will lose their independence, and may be wiped out.
The main principles of the ‘Jarawa policy’ must be upheld; that the Jarawa have ‘maximum autonomy with minimum interference’ in their lives, and that there are no attempts to bring them into the mainstream. Also, that medical treatment should be undertaken with the utmost cultural sensitivity, and all but the most severe cases should be treated within the Jarawa’s reserve.
Lastly, I urge you to ensure that outsiders are kept off the Jarawa’s land, that the Andaman Trunk Road is closed in accordance with the supreme court’s orders and that the Jarawa are allowed to make their own decisions about their future.
Prime Minister of India
Prime Minister’s Office
South Block
Raisina Hill
New Delhi 110 001
India
Fax: +91-11-23016857
Begin: 'Dr Singh'
Chairperson
National Advisory Council
10, Janpath
New Delhi 110 011
India
