Sami Parliament ofSwedenapproved on its plenary session the declaration on ways of raw materials extraction in the regions of country where indigenous Sami people live. The document is addressed toSwedengovernment, municipal authorities and different departments dealing with environmental problems, business and territories development, natural resources usage and permissions giving, the press-office of Sami Parliament informs.

The work on the declaration took a few years, but finally the deputies of Sami Parliament reached a unanimous point of view on mining in Sami lands. “We’ve prepared a clear and precise document basing on the addresses we’ve got. We also added some positions of Gallok statement andUmeadeclaration. Sami Parliament’s point of view on raw materials extraction has been discussed a number of times and now it has turned into a declaration which will unite all the Sami”, said the deputy of the Sami Parliament, an activist  Marie Persson, who is also strongly against the mining in the north part ofSweden. She was a member of a work group on mining together with Matti Berg and Josephine Skerk.

The declaration insists on abiding the principle of clear, deliberate and unforced agreement of indigenous people representatives for conducting industrial activities in their aboriginal territory. Every Sami has the right to say “no” to the projects affecting his land before the projects start. “Sami Parliament performs against the following prospecting and extracting of raw materials on Sami territory untilSwedendoesn’t ratify the № 169 Convention of the International Labor Organization and won’t implement its positions into a national legislation, - M. Persson highlighted. – Sami Parliament has a veto, Sami as people have a veto, Sami villages should have veto. To start the work with natural resources, we should have an agreement from all sides, there should be a consensus”. Sami Parliament ofSweden’s position on raw materials extraction is based on following principles:

• A right on natural resources and protection. All the natural resources on the ground and underground on the aboriginalterritoryofSamibelong to Sami. Sami as indigenous people have a right on protection of national culture, religion, traditional lifestyle, according to chapter №27 of UN Declaration on indigenous people.
• Free, deliberate and informed agreement. This principle means that indigenous peoples have a right to agree or to say “no” to any activities affecting their traditional lands before the activities start. This is a fundamental principle of self-determination.
• Swedenlegislation has to be changed. An act on extraction of raw materials and other laws don’t consider Sami’s interests nowadays. Legislation doesn’t provide the realization of Sami’s right on self-determination, doesn’t protest the land and water resources on Sami’s’ territory.  The following changes should also be made in other spheres of legislation , in particular – in Environment protection Codex and Act on building regulation.

A series of scandals connected with projects on minerals extraction occurred inSwedenin 2013. A British company Beowulf is intended to extract iron ore in Gállok. Sami activists group and also non-Sami people did built a barricade on the way from Jokkmokk town to Gállok in last year’s July and August in order to impede the moving of company’s special transport, but Swedish police  did clean the way keeping Gállok’s defenders back. Youth council of Sami Parliament appealed to theSweden’s Minister of Enterprise, Energy and Communications, Annie Lööf , with a request. They asked her to visit Gállok and hear Sami out, but a high-ranking official took the side of the mining corporation. And in the end of August Swedish government permitted Nickel Mountain Resources AB company to exploit nickel deposits in Västerbotten province which is thelandofSami’s traditional living.

In September UNO’s  Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that Sami’s right on the land isn’t respected inSwedenand that the mining on their territories is being run without their permission. Agneta Broberg, ombudsman against discrimination of Swedish population, has performed with critics towardsSweden’s internal policy regarding Sami.

Swedish government called Sami Parliament of Swedenand Sami Association of Sweden to have talks with mining company’s representatives and solve all the questions by themselves. But the Association, uniting most of the Sami communities and organizations of the country, has sharply declined its participation in those kind of talks explaining it by the statement that government’s suggestion violatesSweden’s international liabilities on Sami’s protection as indigenous people and also serves the interests of mining companies. Association thinks that the legislation on raw materials extraction should be changed before the talks between company representatives and deer breeders.

Sami Parliament declared that continuing of mining works in Sami lands is unacceptable and blamed the companies for human rights violation and Sami’s rights as indigenous peoples for their land, culture and lifestyle. Sami Parliament demanded from Swedish Cabinet of Ministers to stop mining works and give out new permissions for companies, to align national legislation together with international norms on necessity of taking voluntary, informed and deliberate agreement of indigenous peoples on  any industrial activities on their land. Sami Parliament ofSwedenalso wants to be given real opportunities on influencing these processes on the whole territory where Sami live. Influencing on Sami’s rights for land and water, long-term interests of indigenous people, arrangement for steady development  while preserving traditional lifestyle should be higher the interests of capitalists on gaining huge profit in a short time. The necessity of protecting Sami reindeer breeding and traditional crafts including hunting and fishing  from business attempts is strongly marked. This position was confirmed y Sami Parliament ofSwedenon the Meeting of Sami from four countries (Norway,Sweden,FinlandandRussia) in February 2014.

In May  Sami, ecologists and other organization activists organized a meeting of protest inStockholm– against expansion of mining inSwedenin indigenous people’s lands. The meeting gathered about 500 people, he head of Sami Parliament ofSweden, Stefan Mikaelsson, gave a speech on the meeting.