Country Visits: Report on a Visit to the Ainu and Lessons for the Arctic

A delegation from the UN Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) visited the Ainu of Japan in 1991. After describing the activities undertaken by the WGIP-team and the issues and people encountered, the article goes on to argue in favour of such visits by delegations of intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and academic institutions, as well as the active use of available fact-finding and monitoring procedures. It is important that such visits result in official reports that receive the widest possible distribution; they should not least reach senior politicians and officials who are often uninformed about the situations facing indigenous peoples in their countries. The report from the WGIP visit to the Ainu in 1991 is annexed to the present article.