On the disappeared two-hundred fifteen (215) Indigenous children

On the disappeared two-hundred fifteen (215) Indigenous children

5 June 2021

Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR) vehemently condemns the atrocities done to the two-hundred fifteen (215) Indigenous children, part of the larger colonial program to liquidate Indigenous nations of their histories, culture and futures.

The disturbing discovery in Tk’emlups te Secwépemc First Nation reminds us of how colonial powers have used aggressive assimilation and amalgamation to carry out their projects of genocide. The same “civilizing” rhetoric used by the Americans in their imperialist war of aggression in the Philippines mirrored the narrative they used during their inceptive colonial project here on Turtle Island. We can see how this language and ideology is used as a justification for the ongoing genocide, land theft, displacement through such policies as residential schools in Canada, and benevolent assimilation in the Philippines.

While the cause of death of each child is unknown, each death and disappearance is the responsibility of the Canadian state and the institutions at its disposal.

We mourn, we remember and we stand in solidarity with the families and communities who are mourning the loss of these children.

As settlers on stolen land and proletarian internationalists, it is our duty to join in the demands for justice and liberation held up by Indigenous peoples on whose stolen lands we reside. We call for the Roman Catholic church for public apology and the Canadian government to implement the Calls to action in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s  report and indemnify families and survivors of residential schools.

We recognize the First Nations’ inherent rights to self-determination.

We stand in solidarity with their legitimate struggle for land and life.