A Legal Defense Fund for Garifuna Land Rights Fight

The fight over Garifuna land rights is likely heading for the courts. As tensions rise along the southern coast, the National Garifuna Council says it’s preparing for a legal showdown over ancestral lands in communities like Hopkins, Sittee River, and Seine Bight. The group has launched a Legal Defense Fund, calling on supporters at home and abroad to back the fight. Leaders say this isn’t just about land; it’s more about protecting Garifuna heritage and securing their future.

 

Ifasina Efunyemi, Assistant Treasurer, National Garifuna Council

“This is what many people have done across the world, including here in Belize, to get support for advocating their cause. The Mayas did and we are doing so as well, because we want to be able to defend effectively, and it is difficult to do that without the financial resources, which is why we’ve established this fund. It gives our people, as well as our allies, the opportunity to support the cause, because the cause is a long one. This is not going to be something that we’ll be able to solve overnight, because these issues have not risen overnight either. These are issues that we have been dealing with for quite some time, and what it has resulted in is tremendous loss and disposition of our traditional lands over time. So we have to be able to protect what we can that remains in our hands as a people and whatever we can restore as our traditional communities.”

 

Alex Nolberto, President, National Garifuna Council

“ It is definitely going to be successful because there are over 300,000 Garinagu in Belize and within the diaspora that we implore to contribute and support the effort. We’re not doing this just for Belize or Belizeans. We’re doing this for all Garinagu. With that being said, it is our intent to continue the conversation with our legal team and chart a way forward. The Village Council and the NGC being the legally recognized body representing all Garifuna matters, is charged with providing a response, a well-developed legal response to these claims, and that in of itself has a cost. We have to employ our attorneys.”

 

The National Garifuna Council says the fund will also be used to educate the Garifuna community and the public on their traditional land claim, which dates back to the 1800s. 

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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