Experts say India risks genocide of uncontacted island tribe (Shompen People) with mega-port plan
Genocide scholars have warned that India's plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port will wipe them out. Thirty-nine international genocide scholars have written to the Indian government warning it that its plans to turn an uncontacted tribe’s island into a mega-port and city will wipe them out.
Great Nicobar Island in the Indian Ocean is home to an estimated 300 Shompen hunter-gatherers, around two thirds of whom are uncontacted. They are one of the most isolated tribes on Earth, and live in the dense rainforests that occupy the interior of the island.
The government’s $9 billion plan for Great Nicobar includes a mega-port; a new city; an international airport; a power station; a defense base; an industrial park; and 650,000 settlers – a population increase of nearly 8,000%.
“If the project goes ahead, even in a limited form, we believe it will be a death sentence for the Shompen, tantamount to the international crime of genocide,” say the experts, who come from academic institutions in thirteen countries. Among them are historians, sociologists, and the former President of the International Association of Genocide Scholars.
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