07 April 2023 , 13:15
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A multi-billion dollar scheme to mine for an electric car battery component could see an uncontacted Indonesian tribe wiped out.
The mining project on Halmahera island is part of the country's plans to become a producer of electric car batteries by producing nickel.
But the area is set to be plagued by the mining, which will destroy large forested area of the island, which are home to between 300-500 uncontacted members of the Hongana Manyawa tribe.
If everything goes ahead, the tribe, which has around 3,000 members in total, won't survive the destruction.
The Hongana Manyawa – which means ‘People of the Forest’ in their own language - are one of the last nomadic hunter-gatherer tribes in Indonesia.
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The mining is illegal under international law as uncontacted tribes cannot give their Free, Prior and Informed Consent to the exploitation of their land, which is legally required for all "developments" on Indigenous territories.
Forest on the island of Halmahera is at threat of being torn down and destroyed (Getty Images)Weda Bay Nickel (WBN) is a joint venture partly owned by French mining company Eramet.
They began mining in 2019 despite being aware that their concession overlaps with uncontacted Hongana Manyawa territory.
Since then, huge areas of rainforest which the Hongana Manyawa call home have already been destroyed.
Now, the company is planning to increase its mining efforts.
One recently-contacted Hongana Manyawa woman said: “They are poisoning our water and making us feel like we are being slowly killed.”
While another said: “I do not give consent for them to take it. Tell them that we do not want to give away our forest.”
Survival’s Director Caroline Pearce added: “It’s appalling that electric car companies would sell customers a promise of ‘ethical consumption’, while their supply chains destroy an uncontacted tribe.
"There is nothing 'climate-friendly' about laying waste to the Hongana Manyawa’s rainforest, and nothing ‘sustainable' about causing the deaths of Indigenous people who are living self-sufficiently.
“Tesla and other electric car companies have an opportunity to live up to their customers’ expectations and to avert a horrific – and illegal – assault on human rights by pledging that none of the minerals they buy ever comes from the lands of uncontacted Indigenous people in Halmahera.
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"Failing to do so would be a statement that the lives of the uncontacted Hongana Manyawa are expendable.”