JAKARTA – In Indonesia’s easternmost province, felled trees are stacked to block a road that leads to Papuan villages.
On the Thai-Myanmar border, the Karen people have also made makeshift barricades and marked them with signs warning visitors away.
Across the globe, the coronavirus pandemic has left indigenous peoples at particular risk because so many have poorer health and less access to health care than their non-indigenous peers.
While there are, of course, vast differences among indigenous groups, including lifestyle and socioeconomic factors, the United Nations estimates that the life expectancy of indigenous people can be up to 20 years lower than that of their counterparts.