[New post] Drowned-Out Voices: How the Australian Government Fails to Protect Torres Strait Islanders
ayd244 posted: " by Alicia Dai Without question, the climate change crisis must be combated globally. Leaders in every continent, country, and region must carry out varying levels of reform and legislation to do their part to fight the mankind-threatening behemoth. Bu"
Without question, the climate change crisis must be combated globally. Leaders in every continent, country, and region must carry out varying levels of reform and legislation to do their part to fight the mankind-threatening behemoth. But when efforts fall short and governments underperform in their promises to reduce carbon emissions and commit to renewable-energy sources, entire peoples and their cultures are at risk of extinction. The Australian government in particular has consistently neglected the indigenous populations of the Torres Strait Islands who are disproportionately vulnerable to the effects of resource depletion and coastal erosion.
Battered by rising sea levels, the Torres Strait Islands have lost freshwater wells, fruit-bearing trees, and crops to floods and high tides. Moreover, cultural monuments such as ancestral burial grounds, sacred birthing sites, and areas reserved for initiation ceremonies have eroded, leaving Islanders grieving both the physical and emotional losses of their heritage (Wynter). In May of 2020, a group of eight Elders lodged an official complaint to the United Nations against the Australian government for failing to take sufficient action to combat climate precarities faced by indigenous populations. The Islanders assert that the lack of action constitutes a human rights violation, since without their homelands, they are no longer able to practice their culture, let alone have the right to habitable land (Albeck-ripka).
In response, the federal government is attempting to get the complaint dismissed by arguing that climate change is a global issue so the onus is not on Australia to take responsibility for the Islanders' grievances (Galloway). However, without the federal justice system working on their side, the indigenous populations have few other options to substantially discontinue climate-damaging practices such as coal-mining. Time is running out for the Torres Strait Islanders as sea levels rise at an average rate of 6-8 mm per year (Park). Pending the status of their landmark claim submitted against the Australian government, the indigeneous communities of the Torres Islands continue to bear the brunt of climate change. The majority of Islanders refuse to relocate the region out of their deep connections to their ancestors and traditions. In the meantime, they resort to creating barriers from concrete blocks, driftwood, and coconut husks in attempts to restore the sandbanks while the tide creeps ever closer.
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