Updated:May 19, 2015: Greenland sends officials to the EU parliament in Strasbourg to lobby European MP’s on how the misguided ban on the import of seal products is affecting their way of life. There is now a clause before the EU that will allow sealskin from animals hunted by Inuit to be sold in the EU, and that was meant to ensure that those seal hunters did not suffer as a result of the ban. But the Greenland delegation would rather the entire ban was lifted against all hunters.
“We’d like them to accept that the law they passed isn’t working as it was intended,” says one Greenlandic official.
Read more here: Seal hunters to demonstrate at Euro parliament (The Arctic Journal) Greenlandic hunters will travel to Strasbourg next week to lobby Euro MPs preparing to vote on changes to the EU seal import ban. Politicians, they hope, will be kinder to them than consumers have been
Photos of demonstration and presentation
And: Greenland’s Inuits urge EU to reverse seal ban and save traditional way of life
Greenlanders win Danish support for attempt to justify ‘humane’ shooting of seals, as they claim their communities are under threat. (The Guardian.com)
May 19, 2015
BBC radio item – Inuit hunters ask EU to drop ban
Inuit hunters from Greenland are visiting the European Parliament to try to convince lawmakers to end an EU ban on the import of seal products. The hunters say the ban has wiped out their livelihoods. The BBC’s Malcolm Brabant met with the Inuit representatives when they stopped off in Copenhagen on their way to Strasbourg. Radio item is here
April 28, 2015: – (TheObserver.ca) With Iqaluit in the international spotlight Friday thanks to a meeting of eight Arctic nations, Nunavut and Greenland seized on the opportunity to issue a joint statement in defense of the seal hunt.
Eight members of the Arctic Council, including Russia and the U.S., are in the territorial capital Friday to discuss their mandate to protect the Arctic environment and promote sustainable development in the North. Full article is here:
