Is poverty or prejudice driving removal of Brazil's indigenous children?

Karla Mendes - Thomson Reuters Foundation

This article from the Thomson Reuters Foundation calls attention to the large numbers of indigenous children growing up in care in Brazil, particularly in the southwestern state of Mato Grosso do Sul. Zaloar Murat Martins de Souza, a judge in Mato Grosso do Sul describes the poverty experienced in throughout the community which leads to substance abuse and violence. “The vast majority live in a state of misery. And this deprives the family,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. 

"Brazil’s National Indian Foundation (FUNAI), the government agency that represents indigenous people’s interests, has raised concerns about children being wrongly removed from their parents. In a report last year, FUNAI said it had received complaints of children being taken from their families 'without notice, motivation or time for farewells.'"

Many children removed from their homes in Brazil for suspected abuse or neglect are placed in temporary shelters. Brazilian law says they should not stay there for longer than 18 months but some are there for years, "and the longer they stay, the harder it is for them to go home," says the article.

Diogenes Cariaga, an anthropologist based in Dourados, says that "authorities should focus on addressing the root causes of child abuse and neglect - such as poverty, addiction and unsanitary conditions."