Relocation of Kiruna and construction of the Markbygden wind farm and the Saami rights

Abstract

The Saami are the indigenous peoples living in the northern Europe in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Relocation of the Swedish town of Kiruna and construction of Markbygden, one of the largest wind farms in the world, in northern Sweden may serve as an example of the breaches of the Saami rights; in other words, Kiruna's relocation and Markbygden construction will severely impact the Saami, their livelihood and culture. In the first case the relocated railway already cuts through reindeer pasture land, and in the second, the wind farm will limit the movements of reindeer herders and endanger the migration routes and possibility of grazing of reindeer. In this paper the author offers an international law perspective on the relocation of Kiruna and the construction of the Markbygden wind farm. The author examines legal instruments and international jurisprudence as well as the UN treaty monitoring bodies quasi-jurisprudence that are relevant for the Saami peoples. The purpose of the paper is to answer the research question whether relocating Kiruna and building the Markbygden wind farm violates the Saami rights as well as to point to the Swedish obligations in this regard. The thesis of this paper is that in both of the eponymous cases Saami rights are being violated.

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