Essay on Indigenous Peoples

Resource Description

Evaluate the effectiveness of legal and non-legal measures in achieving justice for IP (24/25 mark)

Indigenous peoples (IP) are native to the land or the original inhabitancies of a particular land or area. However even though this is a general definition, the diversity of IP means there is no official definition of the term adopted by any UN-system body. Over many years there has been legal and non-legal measures used to achieve justice and these can for the most part be deemed somewhat effective, however there have been more successful non-legal measures than legal.

IP belong to the most marginalised and vulnerable groups of people in the world – not only physical resources are taken away from them, but also cultural and intellectual property. One of the rights is the affinity of IP with land and nature; where industrialisation and modern farming practices have degraded the natural environment in which they depend on. The UN Declaration on the Rights of IP (2007) sets out rights IP are entitled to. Since this, there has been little progress in legal recognition of these rights, therefore making international law ineffective. However, losing of rights regarding IP are not only in AUS; for example, Phnong in Cambodia the government sold 200000 hectares of land to an offshore company to use for a pin plantation – some of this land belonging to the Phnong people. Consequences of this destruction includes loss of food, medicine, income, culture and religion associated with land therefore showing the ineffectiveness of achieving justice for IP.