Coronavirus Threatens First Residents of India's Andaman Islands
Source: nikkei
NEW DELHI -- After 33 coronavirus cases were reported in India's Andaman and Nicobar Islands, a remote crescent of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal, experts began worrying about the indigenous people who live there.
"Even though all reported cases are among nontribals, our biggest challenge is to protect the aboriginals from COVID-19," said Anup Kumar Mondal, a tribal welfare officer with Andaman Adim Janjati Vikas Samiti (AAJVS), a government-run tribal welfare body. "If one person in the tribe gets infected, the entire community will be at risk because there is no concept of social distancing among them."
Three indigenous groups, the Great Andamanese, Jarawas and Onges, who live in the Andaman island chain are vulnerable to COVID-19 because of their contact with the outside world. The fourth group in the islands, the Sentinelese, who killed an intruding American missionary in 2018, is said to be safe because their land remains off-limits to most outsiders.
The Andaman Islands are within easy range of poachers from neighboring Myanmar. This puts the indigenous population at risk of contracting the disease.
"None of the tribes have the immunity to fight it," according to Survival International's Grig.
Several government interventions meant to "civilize" the groups have instead made them "vulnerable to diseases," said Ratan Chandra Kar, former deputy director for tribal health and welfare in the islands.
Read more: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/Coronavirus/Coronavirus-threatens-first-residents-of-India-s-Andaman-Islands
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