Indigenous peoples are “a plural face, of infinite variety and of enormous biological, cultural, and spiritual wealth.”
(Pope Francis)
In the world there are more than 5,000 indigenous peoples[1] and the vast majority with a fragile guarantee of human rights, are among the most vulnerable groups in migration, with strong incentives to flee their territories because of extreme poverty, loss of ancestral lands due to ecological, climatic and social crises. In addition to this, as immigrants they face a constant list of human rights violations due to xenophobia, racism and discrimination.
The conflict generated by their historical resistance positions them in favor of development and survival strategies such as migration. This situation originates in the phenomenon of forced internal displacement from their national territories for many decades. However, due to various systemic factors, they resort to forced migration and leave for international territories, where they hope to obtain a better quality of life from more productive labor markets, freedom from from violence and threats, and loss of their territories, their livelihoods and their culture, that is, their “self” of social identity as indigenous.
Faced with this dramatic reality, intergroup communication originates in the new transit and destination territories, but the social interaction of indigenous peoples is increasingly reduced. When migrating they lose a large part of their cultural heritage for suffering doubly from discrimination, xenophobia, labor exploitation, disappearance, extortion and government neglect; for being indigenous peoples with a marked difference in vision about their relationship with the world, despite their efforts to preserve their roots, the new territories force them to adapt by renouncing their ancestral wealth.
The mental processes of perceiving, feeling, remembering, thinking, evaluating, etc. (in a way that is manifested in their customs and traditions) are compromised. In order not to highlight this cultural shock and their psychological conflicts, the indigenous people try to go undercover, which in itself generates an internal struggle that ends up diluting their empowerment or strengthening their social identity depending on whether the external conditions are hostile or not.
And while indigenous migrants imply an additional challenge for destination and transit societies, incorporating them is a duty. It is necessary to recognize multicultural societies not only claiming cheap labor but also recalling the benefits of their ancestral richness. It is essential to keep their history and culture alive, especially by respecting them, because it is as important as promoting, welcoming and integrating and protecting.
Some challenges found in this problem are:
- It is your country of origin that must guarantee the necessary means to protect and preserve its cultural and linguistic wealth.
- Indigenous migrants are recognized only by mentioning their nationality.
- Government bodies, migrant houses / shelters when they assist them do not recognize their ethnicity and culture.
- Societies lack the flexibility of society to adapt and include the participation and integration of indigenous migrants.
- Recognition must not only be understood as an act of justice and human rights, but also as a fundamental psychosocial and cultural phenomenon in the lives of human beings.[2]
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[1] International day of indigenous peoples. (2016, July 28). Org.gt. https://onu.org.gt/fechas-onu/dias-internacionales/agosto/dia-internacional-de-los-pueblos-indigenas-2/
[2] García, L. (2016). Migrations, the State and a politics of the human right to migrate: towards a new era in Latin America?Colombia international,88(88), 107-133.