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A6 WORLD NEWS
Thursday 21 July 2022
Report: Brazil authorities pay no mind to deforestation

By FABIANO MAISONNAVE Over six years, the accu-
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — En- mulated loss has reached
vironmental criminals in the some 18,500 square kilo-
Brazilian Amazon destroyed meters (7,100 square miles),
public rainforests equal the according to Amazon En-
size of El Salvador over the vironmental Research Insti-
past six years, yet the Fed- tute, or IPAM, based on of-
eral Police the Brazilian ficial data.
version of the FBI carried Deforestation is increas-
out only seven operations ingly taking place on these
aimed at this massive loss, lands in particular. In 2016,
according to a new study. they made up 31% of all
The destruction took place illegally-felled forest. Last
in state and federal forests year, they reached 36%.
that are “unallocated,” Almost half of Brazil’s cli-
meaning they do not have mate pollution comes from
a designated use the way deforestation, according
national parks and Indig- to an annual study from the
enous territories do. Ac- Brazilian nonprofit network
cording to official data, the Climate Observatory.
Brazilian Amazon rainforest Monhire Menkragnotire, of the Kayapo indigenous community, center, surveys an area where The destruction is so vast
has about 580,000 square illegal loggers opened a road to enter Menkragnotire indigenous lands, on the border with the that the eastern Amazon
kilometers (224,000 square Biological Reserve Serra do Cachimbo, top, where logging is also illegal, in Altamira, Para state, has ceased to be a carbon
miles) of forests in this cat- Brazil on Aug. 31, 2019. sink, or absorber, for the
egory, or an area almost Associated Press Earth and has converted
the size of Ukraine. As Bra- and 2021. Only 2% target- these unallocated public Far-right President Jair Bol- into a carbon source, ac-
zil has repeatedly legalized ed people illegally seizing forests into protected ar- sonaro, however, has re- cording to a study pub-
such invasions, these public undesignated public lands. eas. Since Brazil’s return peatedly said the country lished in 2021 in the journal
forests have become the The report says the lack of to democratic rule in 1985 has too many protected Nature.
main target for criminals enforcement likely stems after two decades of mili- areas and stalled this de- Igarape divides environ-
who illegally seize land. from the weak legal pro- tary rule, most successive cades-long policy. mental crime in the Ama-
The study, from Igarapé tection of these areas, governments have made In 2016, some 2240 square zon into four major illicit or
Institute, a Brazilian think in other words, the same moves to extend the le- kilometers (865 square tainted activities: theft of
tank, analyzed 302 environ- problem that draws the ille- gal protection, and today miles) of unallocated public public land; illegal logging;
mental crime raids carried gal activity. Environmental- about 47% of the Amazon land were illegally deforest- illegal mining; and defores-
out by the Federal Police in ists have long pressed the lies within protected areas, ed. Last year, it reached al- tation linked to agriculture
the Amazon between 2016 federal government to turn according to official data. most double that amount. and cattle farming.q

Amnesty Intl says Myanmar army has laid landmines in Kayah

BANGKOK (AP) — Myan- The human rights groups viewed villagers in an area nesty International’s Crisis turning to their homes and
mar’s military has laid said its researchers who vis- where the army has been Response deputy director fields, Amnesty Internation-
landmines that have killed ited the region found that fighting ethnic Karenni for thematic issues, said in a al noted.
and injured people in and landmines laid around peo- armed groups after the statement. It said that ethnic armed
around villages in Kayah, ple’s homes and church- military seized power from Amnesty’s report said land- groups were warning resi-
a conflict-affected region es have killed at least 20 Myanmar’s elected gov- mines have been deployed dents to be aware of the
near the border with Thai- people and maimed many ernment in February 2021. in at least 20 villages in risks.
land, Amnesty International other civilians. Various international Kayah. The report backed “The military appears to
said Wednesday. The researchers inter- agreements including the earlier allegations made by be systematically laying
1997 Ottawa Convention ethnic groups. landmines near where it is
ban the use of antiperson- The Karenni Human Rights based as well as in areas
nel mines with the inten- Group earlier this month from which it retreats,” it
tion of eliminating weap- also accused army forces said.
ons that have killed and of planting landmines in Myanmar has been mired
maimed thousands of peo- villages and settlements in in violence and civil unrest
ple around the world, often Kayah state. since the military ousted
long after hostilities have Last month, the United Na- the elected government
ended. tions Children’s Fund re- of Aung San Suu Kyi, trig-
“The Myanmar military’s ported that landmines and gering widespread peace-
use of landmines is abhor- unexploded ordnance had ful protests that were put
rent and cruel. At a time maimed or killed children in down with lethal force by
when the world has over- many regions of the coun- the army and police. The
whelmingly banned these try, with the largest number nonviolent opposition has
inherently indiscriminate of casualties in Shan state since turned into armed re-
weapons, the military has in northeastern Myanmar. sistance, and the country
placed them in people’s Apart from the immedi- has slipped into what some
This photo taken in June/July 2022 and provided by Amnesty
International shows the St. Matthew’s Church at Daw Ngay Khu yards, homes, and even ate danger, planting land- U.N. experts characterize
village in Kayah state, eastern Myanmar. stairwells, as well as around mines can prevent people as a civil war.q
Associated Press a church,” Matt Wells, Am- who flee violence from re-