{
  "id": 286600,
  "title": "Suriname moves to evict Mennonites and illegal Amazon settlers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/07/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-07T23:52:22.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Mongabay",
    "slug": "mongabay",
    "url": "https://news.mongabay.com/2026/08/suriname-moves-to-evict-mennonites-and-illegal-amazon-settlers/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The government of Suriname is taking a firm stance against illegal land clearance in the Amazon Rainforest, with President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons announcing stricter measures during a press briefing on August 4th. Officials have been investigating illegal settlements and re-zoning hundreds of thousands of hectares of predominantly primary forest, which were initially designated for agribusiness ventures. It has been revealed that many of these developments are linked to the Mennonite community, a conservative Christian group that migrated to Suriname seeking to establish religious farming colonies.\n\nGeerlings-Simons stated during the briefing that \"The people who are active there in the interior and have cleared land to live there, are there illegally. And that means that we’re going to take measures against them.\" In 2023, Mongabay exposed how private agribusiness investors were collaborating with the government to facilitate a Mennonite pilot program, which would relocate approximately 1,000 families from Bolivia and potentially other regions onto up to 30,000 hectares (74,000 acres) of land in Suriname's interior regions.\n\nFurthermore, reports from Mongabay in 2023 and 2024 disclosed the government's plan to transfer roughly 467,000 hectares (1,153,982 acres) of largely untouched rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for potential agribusiness projects. The backlash against these initiatives has centered around Suriname's extensive 93% forest cover.",
  "summary": "The Surinamese government is taking stricter measures against illegal land developers who are clearing the Amazon Rainforest for agriculture and cattle ranching, according to President Jennifer Geerlings-Simons. Many of these areas are associated with Mennonite communities, a conservative Christian group that migrated to Suriname with plans to establish religious farming settlements. Geerlings-Simons stated that individuals actively involved in clearing land for settlement are doing so illegally and face consequences. In 2023, Mongabay reported on a pilot program involving private agribusiness investors who were working with the government to relocate around 1,000 Mennonite families from Bolivia or other regions onto up to 30,000 hectares of land in Suriname's interior. Additionally, the government had plans to transfer approximately 467,000 hectares of primary rainforest from the Ministry of Land Policy and Forest Management to the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for future agribusiness projects.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}