A British journalist and an Indigenous affairs expert are missing in a remote part of Brazil's Amazon region, a local Indigenous association said Monday. The area has been marked by violent conflicts between fishermen, poachers and government agents.
Dom Phillips, a regular contributor to the Guardian newspaper, and Bruno Araújo Pereira were last seen at 7 a.m. on Sunday in the Sao Rafael community, according to the Unijava association of Indigenous people in the Vale do Javari, for which Pereira has been an advisor. They were returning by boat from the Vale do Javari and bound for the city of Atalaia do Norte, about an hour away, but never showed up.
Pereira is currently on leave from his post with Brazil’s Indigenous affairs agency, and is one of its most experienced employees operating within the Vale do Javari area. He has overseen the agency's regional office and the coordination of isolated Indigenous groups before taking leave. He has received a steady stream of threats from illegal fishermen and poachers, and usually carries a gun.
Univaja said the two had been threatened during their current reporting trip.
The place where they disappeared is the primary access route to and from the Vale do Javari, where several thousand Indigenous people live in dozens of villages. People in the area say that it is highly unlikely they would have gotten lost in that sector.
Brazil’s federal public prosecutors said in a statement they have opened an investigation and mobilized the federal police, Amazonas state’s civil police, the national guard and navy. The latter will coordinate search efforts in the region, according to the statement. The British embassy said in a statement that it is in contact with local authorities, and providing support to Phillips' family.
The Guardian quoted a spokesperson as saying it "is very concerned and is urgently seeking information about Mr. Phillips’ whereabouts and condition. We are in contact with the British embassy in Brazil and local and national authorities to try to establish the facts as soon as possible.”
Phillips also has contributed to the Washington Post and New York Times.
The region has experienced repeated shootings between hunters and fishers and official security agents, who have a permanent base in the area, known for having the world's largest population of uncontacted Indigenous people. The Vale do Javari is also a major route for cocaine produced on the Peruvian side of the border, then smuggled into Brazil to supply local cities or be shipped to Europe.
In September 2019, an employee of the Indigenous affairs agency was shot dead in Tabatinga, the largest city in the region. The crime was never solved.
“It is extremely important that Brazilian authorities dedicate all available and necessary resources to the immediate realization of searches, in order to guarantee, as soon as possible, the safety of the two men,” Maria Laura Canineau, the director of Human Rights Watch in Brazil, said in a statement on Monday.
