Indigenous peoples, estimated to be between 350-400 million worldwide, literally sit on the majority of the world’s natural resources—whether water, forests, land, or minerals—on the nearly 20 percent of the world’s lands that they inhabit.
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Leading Jewish human rights organization praises report’s focus on protecting the Karen community’s right to determine how their land should be used NEW YORK, NY – American Jewish World Service (AJWS) lauds Human Rights Watch’s latest report, “The Farmer Becomes Criminal,” which focuses on the endemic land confiscation in Burma’s Karen State and the impact …
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A narrow window is quickly drawing shut for Liberia to enact a landmark law that would guarantee millions of its people the right to formally own the land they have long lived on and farmed. If the Liberian legislature fails to pass the bill by a deadline currently set for the end of this month, …
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Many rural Liberians— like the Jogbahn clan of Grand Bassa County— depend on their land to survive. When a British-owned palm oil company attempted to grab and develop their ancestral territory, AJWS grantee Sustainable Development Institute (SDI) successfully pushed back and won.
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“Even if you were to bring guns and machetes, we would still stand for our land. We would not fight [you]…but we would face you non-violently, and we would stand…You will not take [our land].” That’s the message Joseph Cheo Johnson—a chief elder in Grand Bassa County, Liberia—has for anyone seeking to claim the land …
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