The Andaman & Nicobar Islands, a union territory of India some 750 miles offshore in the Indian Ocean, recently drew brief international media attention—but for bad reasons. The group of 572 islands, of which 38 are inhabited, were the scene of two disturbing incidents. In the last week of March, a foreigner was arrested for visiting a restricted island, and a local journalist was found dead.

News broke from Port Blair (recently renamed as Sri Vijaya Puram), the capital and largest township of the territory, that a Ukrainian-American national identified as Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov had landed on North Sentinel Island in an attempt to make contact with the isolated Sentinelese people.

Polyakov was arrested for illegally landing on the North Sentinel shore on March 31. According to local police authorities, Polyakov intentionally reached the island in his single-seat boat to contact the isolated inhabitants, although he apparently encountered none. Police say he waited for an hour and blew a whistle to attract the attention of the Sentinelese, in vain. He reportedly left a can of soda as an "offering" before leaving. Local fishermen from Kurma Dera beach on South Andaman Island spotted him using a video camera to capture footage of his visit, presumably to post on social media.

London-based Survival International, which is dedicated to the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples, expressed relief at Polyakov's arrest. But Survival director Caroline Pearce called the news deeply disturbing. In a media statement released April 2, she said: "It beggars belief that someone could be that reckless and idiotic. This person's actions not only endangered his own life, they put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk. It's very well known by now that uncontacted peoples have no immunity to common outside diseases like flu or measles, which could completely wipe them out." She asserted that the Indian authorities have a legal responsibility to ensure that the Sentinelese are safe from missionaries, social media influencers, and people fishing illegally in their waters.

The Sentinelese are classified by India as a "particularly vulnerable tribal group" (PVTG), and their hostility towards outside elements is well decomented. American missionary John Allen Chau was apparently killed by the Sentinelese in 2018 after reaching their remote island with the aim of converting them to Christianity. Chau was presumably buried on the isand and Survival International appealed to the authorities not to attempt to recover his remains, so that the Sentinelese could be protected from any disease transmission.

This is not the first such incident involving Polyakov. In January 2024, he arrived at the archipelgo's Baratang Island and allegedly filmed members of the indigenous Jarawa tribe. A police complaint has been registered against Polyakov under the Andaman & Nicobar Islands (Protection of Aboriginal Tribes) Amendment Regulation of 2012. Polyakov is currently under police custody as the probe continues.

"Uncontacted Indigenous peoples around the world are experiencing the invasion of their lands on a shocking scale," said Pearce. "Countless uncontacted peoples in the Amazon are being invaded by loggers and gold-miners." She added that the isolated Shompen people of Great Nicobar Island, not far from North Sentinel, could be wiped out if New Delhi goes ahead with its plan to transform their island into the "Hong Kong of India," with new port facilities and rapid urbanization. 

Meanwhile, online journalist Sahadev Dey was found dead after he went missing March 29 in Diglipur area of North Andaman Island. Dey, who ran local news channel Republic Andaman, was reportedly targeted in a personal feud. The police in Post Blair have arrested four individuals in connection with the murder. However, Dey's family members and civil society groups expressed skepticism over the official account, and are demanding an impartial probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation over the matter.

The Geneva-based global media safety and rights body, Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), is backing up this demand. PEC president Blaise Lempen stated that Dey was vocal against illegal timber smuggling and other criminal activities in his locality. Dey was the third journalist to be killed in India since Jan. 1 (and the 46th media victim across the globe this year to date).

— Nava Thakuria for CounterVortex

See our last report on isolated peoples.

See our feature stories, "The Tsunami's Hidden Casualties: Indigenous Cultures 'Wiped Off the Map' as Governments Exploit the Disaster" and "India 2019 Journo Murder Index"