On November 10, local indigenous advocacy leaders in Suriname released findings from a second fact-finding visit to a Mennonite settlement in the remote Tibiti area, which revealed a stark drop in the number of residents present just weeks after the national government carried out a high-profile expulsion of 63 unauthorized Mennonite settlers from the nearby Mazoni region.
The delegation, led by Erlan Sleur, a prominent indigenous rights activist, and representatives from the Organisatie Inhemsen in Suriname (OIS) and the Inheems Kolectief Suriname (IkSur), toured a settlement site along Albergaweg in the Tibiti zone, where OIS chair Stanley Liauw Angie noted a dramatic shift in the resident population since their first visit to the area. During their initial inspection, the team had counted 7 to 8 women, multiple children, and a group of men who were working or staying elsewhere on the surrounding land. On the latest follow-up trip, however, the group found only roughly 3 women and a small number of children remaining, with all the adult men reportedly absent, after community members told the delegation the men had traveled to Paramaribo, the national capital. No further details on the exact location of the missing men, the reason for their departure, or whether their absence is temporary could be confirmed during the visit.
This site is not part of the same unauthorized group that was recently expelled from the Mazoni area, government and indigenous leaders clarified, meaning the remaining residents are not automatically subject to immediate removal. Even so, the fact-finding team was unable to verify the legal residency status of the remaining women and children, or confirm whether all local residents hold the required land use and settlement permits to stay in the protected indigenous traditional territory.
Indigenous representatives have raised sharp concerns over unregulated large-scale agricultural activity in the Tibiti region, where widespread deforestation and land clearing have already been documented in recent months. Liauw Angie warned that unpermitted farming operations could continue to expand without formal government oversight, threatening the ecological integrity of lands that have sustained indigenous communities for generations. IkSur representative Lloyd Read, who joined the delegation’s visit, emphasized that the national government must release full, transparent details of all existing agreements related to land use across all Mennonite settlement sites, and publicly identify the parties responsible for establishing these remote communities on traditionally indigenous held land.
The indigenous coalition is now formally calling on Suriname’s central government to launch a full, formal audit of all Mennonite settlements across the country’s interior, to document every current resident, map all ongoing commercial and agricultural activities, and clarify the exact legal terms under which non-indigenous settlers are permitted to remain on lands designated for indigenous stewardship. As of the latest public update, no authorized regulatory agency has announced that new compliance inspections have been carried out at the Tibiti Albergaweg site following the delegation’s fact-finding trip.