Around the world: Sámi Parliament Act reform in Finland overcomes major obstacle; Thailand’s Karen communities brace for renewed mining threat; Pacific leaders urge global action on plastic and ocean protection; and Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, Vanuatu political trailblazer, passes on.
FINLAND: Sámi Parliament Act reform in Finland overcomes obstacle
A reform to Finland’s Sámi Parliament Act has moved one step closer to approval following a Finnish Constitutional Affairs Committee report, Eye on the Arctic reported on June 4.
A reform to Finland’s Sámi Parliament Act has moved one step closer to approval following a Finnish Constitutional Affairs Committee report. The bill, aimed at improving governance for the Sámi people, will be discussed by the Sámi Parliament Board on Friday.
“The Constitutional Affairs Committee has thoroughly discussed the Sámi Parliament Bill and spent a lot of time on it,” said Tuomas Aslak Juuso, deputy chairman of the Sámi Parliament in Finland. “It’s good that the discussion has now been completed.”
The committee backed most of the government’s proposed changes, supporting stronger self-determination for the Sámi. The reform has been years in the making as Finland responds to international human rights rulings. Both the United Nations and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination have called on Finland to eliminate discrimination against Sámi voters and improve their ability to manage their own affairs as their languages and culture face ongoing threats.
The bill introduces key changes to Sámi governance. Most notably, it revises the electoral roll to focus solely on the right to vote and stand for election, rather than determining who qualifies as Sámi. The new criteria would align with language-based standards used in Sweden and Norway.
An independent appeals board would replace the current system, where the Sámi Parliament Board has the final say in electoral roll disputes. This change aims to ensure impartial and transparent handling of appeals.
The reform also strengthens the Finnish government’s duty to negotiate with the Sámi Parliament, though it does not grant the Sámi a veto over government decisions. Additionally, election procedures would be streamlined to make voting more accessible, particularly for remote Sámi communities.
The Sámi Parliament, which voted in favor of the proposal in the last parliamentary term, has been actively involved in the law’s development. Juuso expressed gratitude for the committee’s work: “I thank the Constitutional Committee and Chairman Heikki Vestman for the process and for the fact that the Sámi Parliament has been given its rightful status and has been able to participate in the Constitutional Committee’s hearings.”
If approved in the next stages, the reform could become law later this year.
THAILAND: Karen communities brace for renewed mining threat
The flashlight froze against the jagged cave wall as Sakda Khayankitphuanphon stopped abruptly – standing inside the dark belly of a land his people have called home for generations, now threatened once more by mining giants determined to return, Mongabay reported on June 4.
Scarcely 2 kilometers from Sakda Khayankitphuanphon’s home in Huay Tapab, the remnants of a dormant mining operation scar Mae La Noi district’s forested landscape. Nature has slowly reclaimed much of the site, but inside, Sakda cautiously navigates rotting wooden supports and collapsed tunnels.
“Be careful, watch every step – we can’t go any further than this,” Sakda warned. “This hole is very deep, you can’t see the bottom.”
His flashlight illuminates twisted metal and fluorescent veins of fluorite still glinting in the cave walls – purple, blue, and green crystals that once drew miners here. Fluorite’s value spans industries from steel production to semiconductors, fetching thousands of dollars per gram for high-quality grades.
Universal Mining began exploiting these resources in 1960 after receiving a 30-year concession covering 18 hectares along the Mae La Luang River, which local Karen communities depend on for water, fishing, and farming. As a child, Sakda witnessed the disruption: “The workers at the mine stole our cows and buffalos, they ate them, and they used dynamite to fish in the river.”
The environmental consequences were devastating. Fish and turtles floated dead in the river, livestock perished, and villagers fell ill from contaminated water. After a fatal mining accident in the mid-1990s, Universal Mining ceased operations and eventually let its permits expire in 1998.
Over nearly three decades, the river recovered. Fish returned, breeding zones were protected, and the community rebuilt its delicate balance with nature. “The water is safe again because we don’t have tap water from the authorities,” Sakda said.
But Universal Mining has returned. Bolstered by Chinese investment, the company’s assets nearly doubled between 2021 and 2022. The firm is now pushing to reopen the fluorite mine, triggering fierce resistance from the Karen villagers.
Central to the conflict is Thailand’s legal requirement for an environmental impact assessment, which mandates community input. But villagers say they’ve been shut out. “The EIA was conducted by a team of people, but we don’t know who they are,” Sakda said. “The people who attended weren’t even from our village.”
Universal Mining has publicly claimed modern tunnel mining won’t harm the environment. “It is a closed blasting operation using modern technology, with no rocks flying or causing damage,” company director Alinrat Nithisunthon told local media. Yet details on the company’s plans remain scarce.
Environmental groups point to the likely use of ammonium nitrate fuel oil (ANFO) explosives, raising risks of toxic gas release, groundwater contamination, and respiratory illness. “The ammonium-nitrate blasting method is a major concern,” said Thanakrit Thongfa of EarthRights International. “Long term, this could force a shift away from traditional agriculture and threaten the local ecosystem entirely.”
The site sits directly on the Mae La Luang River, which flows into the Yuam and Salween Rivers, potentially affecting thousands downstream. “At least five villages rely directly on the Mae La Luang,” Thanakrit added.
Sakda’s brother, Mike Khayankitphuanphon, also fights to protect their homeland. He helps manage fish sanctuaries where local breeding zones ensure food security year-round. “Everyone in the village knows this, even the fish know it!” he said. Both brothers belong to the grassroots Save La River Network, using the internet and legal partnerships to oppose the mine.
“In the past, we saw how the mining company operated, what they did to the river, how the workers stole our property,” Mike recalled. “Today, we can get the information we need to defend our land.”
Support from groups like EarthRights International and the Center for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights has helped villagers file protests and bring their concerns to Bangkok. Thailand’s National Human Rights Committee also filed a complaint in 2024 based on their testimony.
However, the fight remains uphill. Mae La Noi sits within Thailand’s Mineral Resources Masterplan, which designates large parts of northern Thailand for future mining. Even if Universal Mining’s current bid fails, new companies may still pursue extraction.
The villagers fear Thailand’s regulatory system offers limited protection. Even when environmental assessments are rejected, political and commercial pressure can bend the process. “The EIA rejection is currently the strongest defense, but it’s not foolproof,” Thanakrit said, according to Mongabay.
The company must also secure approvals to use lands classified as watershed forests and receive consent from sub-district councils. For now, local officials have denied such permits. “They’re elected by communities here. They understand the problems we face if this mine goes ahead,” Sakda said.
Yet classification loopholes threaten this fragile barrier. The Royal Forest Department has labeled parts of the forest “degraded,” easing pathways for mining approvals. “We found that the site of the mine is actually very rich, lush forest, but the EIA identifies it as degraded forest,” Sakda explained.
Critics say the EIA system lacks transparency and independent oversight, often relying on reports crafted by consultants hired by the companies themselves. “Consultants are motivated to minimize risks and overstate benefits,” said Center for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights director Sumitchai Hattasarn.
Adding to the Karen community’s vulnerability is their lack of formal land tenure. Many Indigenous villagers possess no official land titles, giving companies legal leverage. “The absence of tenure is part of the unspoken leverage mining companies rely on,” said Thanakrit.
Though Thailand recognizes roughly 6 million Indigenous people from 60 groups, no updated census exists since 2002. Even after adopting the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007, Thailand recently gutted a proposed Protection and Promotion of Indigenous and Ethnic Groups Bill, stripping it of “Indigenous peoples” terminology over fears about land rights.
For now, Sakda and his community continue their annual February ceremony, blessing the river and mountains, and marking another year of holding the mine at bay. “Every year, we invite government officials, but none of them ever come,” Sakda said. “For three years; none of them will meet with us.”
OCEANIA: Pacific leaders urge global action on plastic and ocean protection
For the Pacific peoples, conservation isn’t a modern movement, but a way of life deeply rooted in culture and survival. Their forests, reefs, and oceans are not just ecosystems, but homes, heritage, and guardians that have sustained and protected communities for generations, IUCN reported on June 6.
As the world marks World Environment Day and World Oceans Day, Pacific leaders are underscoring the region’s unique vulnerability to global environmental threats – and its deep-rooted commitment to conservation.
“This year’s global themes – celebrating the wonders of nature and calling for urgent action to ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ – are profoundly relevant for our region,” said Leituala Kuiniselani Toelupe Tago, Regional Director of IUCN Oceania. “Plastic pollution is not just a coastal issue; it is an oceanic crisis that endangers our food systems, threatens marine biodiversity, and disrupts traditional livelihoods.”
While plastic pollution remains one of the most visible threats, Pacific leaders emphasize that action at every level makes a difference. “We are not powerless,” Toelupe Tago said. “Every plastic item removed, every choice to reduce waste, and every voice raised for nature adds to a collective movement for change.”
In the Pacific, conservation is a communal responsibility, woven into daily life and ancestral tradition. “From children to elders, from grassroots groups to regional leaders, our efforts reflect the strength of our culture and the unity of our purpose,” she added. “When we work together to protect our lands and waters, we honour the wisdom of our ancestors and the rights of future generations.”
Looking ahead, the Pacific will bring its message to the global stage at the Third United Nations Ocean Conference scheduled for Nice, France. IUCN Oceania is calling for decisive progress on the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty, a key international agreement aimed at protecting high seas biodiversity.
“The BBNJ agreement must reflect equity, inclusivity, and respect for traditional knowledge systems, ensuring that Pacific Island nations have a central role in decisions that impact our ocean,” Toelupe Tago stated.
As custodians of one of the world’s largest ocean regions, Pacific nations have long played a leading role in global conservation, climate action, and ocean governance. Their leadership, Toelupe Tago emphasized, “is grounded not in wealth or power, but in wisdom, responsibility, and care.”
Marking the occasion, she concluded: “Let us renew our commitment to environmental stewardship and ocean protection. Let us amplify our message of hope and action, grounded in culture and driven by community. Together, we can build a future where nature thrives, and so do our people.”
“Vinaka vakalevu. Fa’afetai tele lava. Thank you.”
VANUATU: Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, Vanuatu political trailblazer, passes on.
Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, pioneering Ni-Vanuatu leader and first woman elected to Vanuatu’s Parliament, has died, RNZ News reported on May 26.
Motarilavoa Hilda Lini, Vanuatu’s first female member of parliament and a pioneering figure in Pacific politics, has died. She passed away at Port Vila General Hospital on Sunday, local media reported.
Lini made history in 1987 when she was elected to parliament as a member of the Vanua’aku Party. In 1991, she broke another barrier, becoming the country’s first female minister, overseeing the Health and Rural Water Supplies portfolio. She went on to serve three terms in parliament, holding several ministerial positions until the late 1990s.
She was also the sister of the late Father Walter Lini, Vanuatu’s founding father, and held the chiefly title of the Turaga nation of Pentecost Island.
In a statement on Monday, the Vanuatu Ministry for the Prime Minister paid tribute: “On behalf of the Government, we wish to extend our deepest condolences to the Lini family for the passing of late Motarilavoa Hilda Lini – one of the first to break through our male-dominated parliament during those hey days. She later championed many causes, including a Nuclear Free Pacific. Rest in Peace soldier, for you have fought a great fight.”
Vanuatu’s Speaker, Stephen Dorrick Felix Ma Au Malfes, described Lini as “a trailblazer who paved the way for women in leadership and politics in Vanuatu. Her courage, dedication, and vision inspired many and have left an indelible mark on the history of our nation.”
Human rights advocate Anne Pakoa called her a “Pacific hero,” writing: “She was a woman of integrity, a prestigious, wise and yet very humble woman leader.”
Port Vila MP Marie Louise Milne, the third woman to represent the capital in parliament after Lini, said, “She was a pioneer … serving our country with strength, dignity, and an unshakable commitment to justice and peace.”
“Her legacy lives on in every woman who rises to serve, in every Ni-Vanuatu who believes in justice and unity,” Milne added. “She will forever remain a symbol of strength for Vanuatu and all Melanesian women.”
Motarilavoa Hilda Lini will be laid to rest in North Pentecost on Tuesday.
My final thoughts
Every week, as I scan the globe for Indigenous dispatches, I see different names, different governments, different legal systems. But beneath the surface, one truth repeats: Indigenous peoples everywhere are still fighting not simply for land – but for the right to exist on their own terms.
This week’s stories cross four continents, yet each carries the same familiar rhythm: resistance, erasure, resilience.
In Finland, the Sámi – Europe’s only recognized Indigenous people – are one step closer to reclaiming control over who belongs to their communities (RCI / Eye on the Arctic). For decades, the Finnish state has held the authority to define Sámi identity, diluting their political autonomy in the process. Now, after years of legal fights and quiet negotiations, reform to the Sámi Parliament Act has cleared a major hurdle. Yet while this change restores a degree of self-determination, it also exposes how deeply governments feel entitled to arbitrate identity. The state’s willingness to loosen its grip is progress – but partial, fragile, and far too long in coming.
In Thailand’s northern hills, Karen Indigenous communities are once again facing an old enemy: mining companies hungry for what lies beneath their sacred lands (Mongabay). After years of forced displacement and broken promises, mining interests are pushing back into ancestral territories. For the Karen, this is not just about minerals – it is about the survival of an entire way of life. The threat is not new; it is simply returning, dressed up once again as economic progress. And once again, Indigenous defenders must resist becoming collateral damage in someone else’s profit margins.
This week, as the world paused for both World Environment Day and World Oceans Day, Pacific Island Indigenous leaders offered a sobering reminder of how much is at stake (IUCN Oceania). The rising seas are not distant theories for them – they are lived realities, swallowing coastlines, gravesites, and cultural memory. Climate change here is not just science; it is slow-motion cultural erasure. Entire nations face the prospect of existing only as diasporas. The world talks of ocean health while the Pacific’s original ocean custodians struggle to hold onto physical existence itself.
And, in Vanuatu, one of the Pacific’s strongest Indigenous voices has fallen silent. Motarilavoa Hilda Lin̄i – chief, parliamentarian, and fierce advocate for a nuclear-free Pacific – has died (RNZ Pacific). For years, she carried both the authority of her people and the weight of global diplomacy, confronting the world’s most powerful nations on behalf of small island communities often ignored in global negotiations. Her passing leaves not just grief, but a gap – one that must be filled if Indigenous leadership in the Pacific is to remain strong in an era of rising seas and rising threats.
The global thread: same battle, different borders
The names may change. The languages, the flags, the courts – all different. But whether it’s the Sámi in Europe, the Karen in Asia, or the Pacific Islanders fighting to stay above water, the underlying struggle remains the same.
Indigenous peoples are still being asked to justify their own existence while outsiders calculate the value of their lands.
The world keeps repackaging this dispossession under softer words: “development,” “security,” “national interest.” But at its core, this remains a simple question: Who decides whether Indigenous peoples get to remain sovereign?
And even as the machinery grinds forward, week after week, one other truth remains constant: They have never stopped resisting.