The indigenous peoples of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands face a new threat from plans to increase tourism in the archipelago, according to environmentalists in India, as reported by the BBC. In July, the Indian government signed an agreement with Thailand that would allow the Thai resort of Phuket to send tourists to the islands to benefit the islands' economies. Environmentalists working in India allege that the government has done a poor job of protecting the islands, and that it has used the recent tsunami as an excuse to encourage development projects that could harm the islands' indigenous people, according to the BBC.
The Indian government has a poor history of defending indigenous peoples' rights on the islands, Sille Stidsen, the Asia Desk officer for the Denmark-based NGO International Working Group on Indigenous Affairs told Cultural Survival early this year. In 2002, India's Supreme Court ordered the government to protect the Jarawa from diseases and development by closing a road that cuts through Jarawa territory in Northern Andaman island.
