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Indigenous Peoples Face Critical Threat from COVID-19 as Cultural, Political
Rights Erode

Lisa Schlein

   GENEVA - The United Nations warns COVID-19 poses a critical threat to
   hundreds of millions of indigenous people worldwide. To mark the
   [1]International Day of the World's Indigenous People, U.N.
   Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is calling on countries to respond
   to their needs and to respect their cultural, social and political
   rights.
   Many of the more than 476 million indigenous people around the world
   now live in remote locations. Their traditional way of life and
   distance from heavily populated areas have largely insulated them from
   many diseases commonly circulating.

   However, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres notes that throughout
   history, indigenous peoples have been decimated by diseases brought
   from elsewhere, to which they had no immunity. Unfortunately, the
   coronavirus is following the same trajectory.

References

   1. https://www.un.org/en/observances/indigenous-day

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