Government brings forward closure of airspace over Yanomami territory.

247 - The Ministers of Justice and Public Security, Flávio Dino, and of Defense, announced this Thursday (23), the anticipation of the closure of the airspace over the Yanomami territory, in Roraima, for the departure of illegal miners. The airspace in the region will be closed on April 6, compared to the initial forecast of May 6. 

“We are currently updating the plan in these areas where people unfortunately persist in illegal mining. And there are only a few areas, two or three. We will intensify operations with arrests and seizures of these materials,” said Dino, according to the MetropolisPrior to the operation, up to 40 daily flights were recorded over the region. 

"What we are stating is that the Defense and Justice ministries will expand these actions now in March, and certainly by the scheduled date, April 6th, we will have the end of this legal activity in Yanomami territory," he added.

The decision to close the airspace earlier than planned was made after members of the task force assessed that maintaining the window for the departure of illegal miners could result in a longer delay in removing them from indigenous territory.