Analysis of The Legal Frameworks of Indigenous People’s Rights Over Their Natural Resources And The Impacts of Extractive Industries

Abstract

Extractive industries are gradually demolishing indigenous people’s lands for collecting natural resources including gold, iron, copper, oil, coal and other natural minerals, from the earth though some international conventions protect their rights. Over the past decades, many international conventions had recognised some legal rights of indigenous people over their lands and also developed some legal protections to safeguard those rights. This paper aims to examine some international legal frameworks of indigenous people’s rights over their natural resources and analyse some significant impacts of the extractive industries on the legal rights of indigenous people over their lands. The qualitative doctrinal research method has been employed to find out the data and analyse them. This study has identified that human rights risks are linked with mining, oil, and gas extraction falling unreasonably on indigenous people. This research has found that extractive industries violate the UNDRIP and the ILO (convention 169) conventions by taking possession of the lands of indigenous people and extracting natural resources from their lands. This paper has settled by recommending, among other things that the UNDRIP and the ILO (convention 169) take the incentives to progress a region wide framework for extractive industries where the human rights of indigenous people are well protected specially the rights of their lands.