Australian Aborigines threaten to ban tourists from visiting

Co-owners of Uluru rock (Australia), but not benefiting from tourism development, the indigenous people here threaten to ban tourists from visiting this natural heritage.

The Anangu people in the Uluru region have threatened to ban tourists from visiting the Uluru red rock world heritage site in Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia, if their voices are not heard by the government and people continue to live in poverty, according to Anglenews.

The Australian Government granted ownership of Uluru to the Anangu people on 26 October 1985, on the condition that the Anangu people lease it back to the National Park for 99 years. This means that the Anangu people and the National Park jointly control Uluru. Photo: Auviptrip.

However, according to the representative of the Aboriginal community living around Uluru, Rameth Thomas, they only receive 7% of the profits from tourism on the rock. Rameth also said that the government has benefited from millions of dollars each year but has neglected the Aboriginal people and children living here. They are denied basic needs such as housing, clean water, food, health care and live in poverty.

Thomas said that the Government people have been coming here many times since he was a child. He is now 40 years old but nothing has changed.

Poverty has led to a high crime rate among Indigenous Australians. It rose from 14% in 1990 to 27% in 2015. Indigenous suicides are also at record levels, and the country has the highest youth suicide rate in the world.

Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, is a sandstone formation that changes color over time and is a sacred place for Aboriginal communities. It is a famous tourist destination in Australia, attracting a large number of visitors every year.

According to VNE