A British journalist, a contributor to The Guardian, and an employee of the National Indian Foundation (Funai) have been missing since Sunday in a remote area of the Brazilian Amazon, according to the indigenous organization Unijava, which reported receiving threats. .
In a note, the Union of Indigenous Peoples of Vale do Javari (Univaja) reported that journalist Dom Phillips and employee Bruno Araújo Pereira disappear on the road between the riverside community of São Rafael and the city of Atalaia do Nortelocated in Vale do Javari, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas.
The indigenous reported that the two went to visit an indigenous surveillance team, so that the journalist could get to know the place and conduct some interviews with indigenous people who live in the area, which in recent years has been constantly attacked by illegal miners, loggers and invaders.
Unijava stressed that Experienced Indians searched the river and the area where the two disappeared. after noticing that they left São Rafael, but did not arrive at the planned place in Atalaia do Norte.
In a note released this afternoon, the Brazilian Federal Police reported that it is already following up and working “in the case of the disappearance of indigenist Bruno Araújo Pereira, from the National Indian Foundation (Funai), and English journalist Dom Phillips, contributor to The Guardian newspaper.
“The investigations are ongoing and will be released in due course,” the Brazilian police added.
The organization confirmed that Funai and Univaja employees working in the region are constantly threatened for their work against squatters, fishermen, miners and loggers.
We emphasize that in the week of the disappearance, according to Unijava employees, the team received threats on the ground. The threat was not the first, others and other members of the Unijava technical team were already being made, in addition to other reports already made official to the Federal Police, to the Public Ministry of the Federation in Tabatinga”, the statement concludes.
In an article on the disappearance of its collaborator, published on its website, the British newspaper quotes a spokesman for the company, spokesman for Guardian News & Media: “The Guardian is very concerned and urgently seeks information on the whereabouts and condition of Mr Phillips. We are in contact with the British Embassy in Brazil and with local and national authorities to try to clarify the facts as soon as possible.”
The Javari Valley is the region with the highest concentration of uncontacted peoples in the world.
Source: Observadora
