आफ्नो पुर्खैली भूमिको रक्षाका लागि लडिरहेका

अंकल पबाइ र अंकल पल अस्ट्रेलियाको सबैभन्दा उत्तरी भाग टोरेस स्ट्रेटका गुडा मालुलिगल राष्ट्रका समुदायिक नेता हुन् । उनीहरूका आदिवासी पुर्खाहरू हजारौँ वर्षदेखि टापुहरूमा बस्दै आएका छन् ।

अहिले, जलवायु परिवर्तनका कारण पुस्तौँ पुस्तादेखि हस्तान्तरण हुँदै आएको उनीहरूको जीवनशैली, परम्परागत ज्ञान प्रणाली,  सांस्कृतिक अभ्यास र आध्यात्मिक सम्बन्ध सदाका लागि टुट्ने अवस्थामा रहेको छ । बढ्दो समुद्री सतहले प्रत्येक वर्ष समुद्री तटहरू नष्ट गरेको छ, पवित्र सांस्कृतिक स्थलका साथै पुर्खाहरूलाई गाडिएको चिहानहरू नष्ट गरेको छ, खाद्य बगँैचाहरू भत्काएको छ र टापुका पूर्वाधारलाई जोखिम पु¥याएर थप विनाश निम्त्याइरहेको छ ।

आफ्नो समुदायद्वारा सम्मान स्वरूप “अंकल” भनेर चिनिएका अंकल पबाइ र अंकल पल अहिले अदालतमा पुगेका छन् । अस्ट्रेलियाली सरकारले जलवायु परिवर्तनबाट हुने हानि रोक्नको लागि पर्याप्त कदम नचालेकोले उनीहरूको भूमि र संस्कृतिको विनाश भइरहेको उनीहरूको तर्क छ । यदि तत्काल कुनै कदम नचाले धेरै भागहरू बस्न योग्य नहुने भएकोले टोरेस स्ट्रेटका धेरै टापुवासीहरू आफ्नो मातृभूमि छोड्न बाध्य हुनेछन् । यो समुदायका लागि भयानक हुनेछ । अंकल पबाइको अनुसार: “हामी यी टापुहरूमा जन्मेका हौँ र यी टापुहरू हाम्रा जननी हुन्, हाम्रा पहिचान हुन्, हामी जे हौँ त्यही नै हुन् यी टापुहरू पनि । हाम्रा योद्धा परिवारहरूले हजारौँ वर्षदेखि हामीबाट हाम्रो मातृभूमि लिन खोज्ने जो कोहीसँग लडे । तर, अब हामी जलवायु परिवर्तनसँगको लडाइमा भने हार्ने संभावना रहेको छ ।”

Fighting to save their ancestral lands

Prime Minister of Australia

PO box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia

Dear Prime Minister

To protect the Torres Strait Islands and the human rights of First Nations Peoples, I call on your government to take adequate and human rights-consistent climate action by rapidly reducing carbon emissions in line with the world commitment of limiting global warming to 1.5ºC and in line with the best available scientific research.

Your government currently states that by 2030 it will reduce emissions 43% below 2005 levels. This is not enough to save the Torres Strait Islands. Leading climate scientists on the Climate Targets Panel calculate Australia’s greenhouse emissions need to be reduced by 74% by 2030.

Yours sincerely,

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जलवायुसम्बन्धी कार्यका लागि अस्ट्रेलियालाई आह्वान गरौँ ।

Fighting to save their ancestral lands

Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul are community leaders from the Guda Maluyligal Nation at the northernmost part of Australia in the Torres Strait. Their Indigenous ancestors have lived on the islands for thousands of years.

Now, because of climate change, their way of life, traditional knowledge systems, cultural practices and spiritual connections that have been passed down from generation to generation could be broken forever. Rising sea levels are causing more destruction each year by eroding beaches, destroying sacred cultural sites and cemeteries where ancestors are buried, wrecking food gardens, and putting the islands’ infrastructure at risk.

Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul, who are referred to as “uncle” by their communities as a sign of respect, have turned to the courts. They argue that the Australian government is taking insufficient action to prevent harm from climate change, resulting in the destruction of their lands and culture.

Unless urgent action is taken, many Torres Strait Islanders will be forced to leave their homelands as large parts become uninhabitable. This would be devastating to the communities. As Uncle Pabai says: “We are born to these islands, they are our mothers, our identities, who we are. For thousands of years, our warrior families fought off anyone who tried to take our homelands from us. But now, we could lose the fight to climate change.”

Call on Australia to take urgent climate action.

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