8/15/2023 0 Comments Torres strait islanders![]() Responding to the outcome, Yessie Mosby, one of the Group of Eight and a Traditional Owner of Masig said: The committee said despite some action from Australia, such as new seawalls for the four islands by next year, additional measures were required to prevent potential loss of life. Connection to healthy country across land and seas as well as to culture, and the ability to maintain these, were determined to be human rights. In its decision, the UN considered Torres Strait Islanders’ close connection to traditional lands and the central place of healthy ecosystems for the maintenance of cultural practices. The complaint also argued on grounds of Article 6, the right to life, but this was not upheld. These rights respectively form Article 27 and 17 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN human rights committee found Australia had failed to protect Torres Strait Islanders against the impacts of climate change and violated their right to enjoy their culture, and to be free from arbitrary interference to privacy, family and home. Major legal breakthrough for Indigenous rights This marks a departure from broad international climate politics where Indigenous laws, cultures, knowledges and practices are often sidelined or underrepresented. Significantly, deep Indigenous cultural and ecological knowledge, rather than Western climate science, proved key to this UN decision. The evidence was backed by findings from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, which called for urgent action to protect the vulnerable region. Rising seas had also flooded family grave sites. In their complaint, they described how heavy rain and storms associated with climate change had devastated their homes and food crops. ![]() The Torres Strait Islanders hailed from four islands - Boigu, Poruma, Warraber and Masig. ![]() It was the first time people from a low-lying island exposed to rising sea levels had taken action against a government. Shutterstock Why is this so significant?Įight Torres Strait Islanders and six of their children lodged the complaint with the UN in 2019, saying climate change was damaging their way of life, culture and livelihoods. The decision is a win for the Torres Strait Islanders who lodged the complaint with the UN - but it has far wider implications. ![]()
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