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A human rights organization on Monday urged Indian police to halt efforts to find the body of an American missionary who was reportedly killed by an isolated tribe on an island. isolated because of the risk of infecting them.
John Allen Chau (26) was reportedly killed last week after going to North Sentinel – part of the Andaman and Nicobar Indian archipelago in the Bay of Bengal – in an attempt to convert the tribe to Christianity.
Indian police are working with anthropologists and psychologists to determine if a plan can be developed to find Chau's body, an officer said Monday.
But Survival International, an organization that fights for the rights of indigenous tribes, said the attempts were dangerous for Indian authorities as well as for the Sentinels, who were threatened with being "wiped out" if external diseases were introduced.
"The risk of deadly outbreak of influenza, measles or other external diseases is very real and increases with every contact of this type," said the body.
A man from the Sentinelese Tribe is pointing his bow and arrow at an Indian Coast Guard helicopter as he flies over North Sentinel Island in the Andaman Islands, following the 2004 tsunami in the United States. ;Indian Ocean. Photography: Document / AFP / Getty Images
The Sentinels, generally considered the last pre-neolithic tribe in the world, have resisted fiercely any contact with strangers. For years, the Indian government has banned visitors from the island to visitors to protect the tribe.
"We are in constant contact with anthropologists and psychologists," said Dependra Pathak, director general of police in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
"If they suggest a methodology to interact without disrupting them, then we can develop a strategy," he said. "At this point, we have no plan to confront our Sentinelese."
A group of anthropologists, journalists and activists said in a joint statement that continued efforts to find Mr. Chau's body could lead to further violence and "completely unjustified loss of life".
"The rights and desires of the sentinels must be respected and nothing must be achieved by intensifying conflict and tension, and worse, by creating a situation where more damage is caused," they said.
Mr. Chau, who described himself in social media as an adventurer and explorer, made several canoe trips on the island on November 15.
He told the fishermen who took him to the island a day later that he would not come back, said Pathak previously.
Seven people who helped Mr. Chau reach the island were arrested.
Meanwhile, the Andaman and Nicobar authorities issued a statement on Monday reiterating that the island was still banned from foreigners and Indians after some media announced the easing of restrictions on foreigners and Indians. visitors. – Reuters
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