Defending Tamil Indigenous Rights: Lessons from Volker Türk’s EMRIP Address Introduction United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, in his 14 July 2025 address to the 18th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), highlighted vital principles and global trends in defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Tamil human rights defenders, professionals, political leaders, and the broader Tamil community can draw on these insights to bolster their international advocacy. Key themes from the High Commissioner’s speech – notably the right to self-determination and the principle of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) – resonate strongly with the Tamil people’s struggle in Sri Lanka for equality, security, and autonomy. This report distills those principles, examines good practices and ongoing challenges in Indigenous rights protection worldwide, and suggests actionable strategies to advance the Tamil people’s right to self-determina...