The controversial tourist resort run by Barefoot India in the Andaman Islands has been dealt a fatal blow, after India’s government banned tourism businesses from operating in a buffer zone around the Jarawa tribal reserve.
However, activists have warned of a ‘missed opportunity’ after the illegal road through the reserve at the centre of the ‘human safaris’ scandal has been allowed to stay open.
Barefoot claims to promote ‘socially responsible tourism development’, but their site’s proximity to the Jarawa tribe would threaten their wellbeing. The company has spent years challenging the legality of the buffer zone in India’s courts.
A number of other resorts are also affected by the decision, and will have to leave the buffer zone.
The new regulations, approved by India’s Union Cabinet recently, impose stiff penalties for those trying to organize tours to, or photograph, the Jarawa; offenders face 3 to 7 years’ imprisonment.
The Andaman’s Deputy Commissioner says, ‘the main motto of this act is that the Jarawa should not be exploited.’
However, while welcoming the move, activists say that until the controversial and illegal Andaman Trunk Road (ATR) is closed and an alternative route made available, the Jarawas’ exploitation will not end. They argue that the road denies the tribe control over who enters their land and how much contact they have with the outside world.
Denis Giles from local organization SEARCH says, ‘The Cabinet’s decision is welcome, but it does not strike at the heart of the problem – which is unavoidably the road.’
India’s Supreme Court ordered the road closed in 2002, but it remains open – with around 250 vehicles passing through the reserve every day.
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘This is a positive development, but will the new rules actually be implemented? In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that the Andaman Trunk Road should be closed, but ten years later it still takes 250 vehicles a day into the Jarawa’s forest (and through the new buffer zone). The only real option is to close the road.’
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Act now to help the Jarawa
Survival’s Andamans campaign focuses on the Jarawa, because their situation is the most precarious of the four tribes. Your support is vital for the Jarawa’s survival. There are lots of ways you can help.
- E-mail the Indian government asking it to stop the ‘human safaris’ threatening the Jarawa
- Donate to Survival’s campaign for the Jarawa and other threatened tribal peoples
- Write to the Indian government using Survival’s online letter-writing tool
- Write to your MP or MEP (UK) or Senators and members of Congress (US).
- Write to your local Indian high commission or embassy
- If you want to get more involved, contact Survival
