Fact Check-Indigenous Australians are not being forcibly vaccinated against COVID-19

Unsubstantiated allegations about indigenous Australians being forcibly vaccinated against COVID-19 have been circulating on social media.

The misinformation appears to have stemmed from a series of videos featuring vaccine conspiracy theorist David Cole (here , here), and June Mills, an elder from the Larrakia indigenous group (here , here , here).

Both said they had heard unconfirmed reports of the police and army forcibly removing Indigenous people and forcibly injecting them with COVID-19 vaccines.

The videos have played on the historical mistreatment of indigenous Australians, which includes the forced removal of children from their families (here , here).

One user, for instance, posted Mills’ video alongside artwork of British troops massacring Indigenous people in the 1800s (here).

Cole, meanwhile, likened the COVID-19 vaccination effort to a genocide of indigenous people.

“This is a war crime. This is a crime against humanity,” he says. “And everything that has been implemented against humanity has been trialed and practiced on the tribal people of this continent.”

However, Reuters could not find any evidence the army or police are conducting forced vaccinations, and the allegations have since been retracted.

Mills (here) said she had since received information from reliable sources that there had not been any forced vaccinations., while Cole posted a video on Instagram (here) saying there had been no confirmation this was happening.

“It seems that some people think I was advising against vaccinations,” Mills said in a subsequent video. “No I wasn’t, I have never advised against vaccination.”

The allegations have been widely denounced by indigenous community organizations, including the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory (AMSANT) (here).

“The claims being made on social media such as Twitter and Facebook are not just entirely false – they are damaging to our people in spreading conspiracy theories and lies,” CEO of AMSANT, John Paterson, told Reuters.

“Our people are the most vulnerable to this disease given high levels of existing conditions of ill health and overcrowded housing,” Paterson said in an email.

“The last thing we need are people – often based overseas – who seem to find some sort of joy in spreading these damaging lies.”

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) called the allegations “emphatically false,” explaining that it is not in its remit to conduct such activities.

A statement on the ADF website said: “Defence personnel currently supporting Northern Territory Government authorities cannot forcibly remove residents from their homes, forcibly vaccinate residents against their will nor forcibly prevent residents from filming or photographing events in public places” (here).

It also said it was not administering COVID-19 vaccines – which are not mandatory in Australia (here) – to the public.

A spokesperson for AMSANT confirmed the army had not been involved in vaccination delivery, saying that had been “solely the responsibility” of health staff with appropriate training.

The role of the army has been logistical, the spokesperson said, and limited to delivery of fresh food, and providing transport to a quarantine facility for positive cases.

The army has been unarmed throughout, the spokesperson added.

In a statement released via the Wurli-Wurlinjang Aboriginal Health Service (www.wurli.org.au/aboutus/), an indigenous community-controlled organization, Traditional Owners in the communities of Binjari and Rockhole, said the claims were untrue and hurtful for the communities.

“People are very hurt by the untrue comments being made in the media and social media about their situation,” it said in a statement posted on the Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Service Facebook page (here).

“We are in lockdown because we’re in the biggest fight of our lives. We don’t need people out there creating another flood for us.”

“People on social media saying that our people are being mistreated need to realize their comments are hurting the very people they claim to care about.”

VERDICT

False. Reuters could not find any evidence the Australian army or police are conducting forced vaccinations. The allegations have since been retracted and refuted by indigenous community members and organizations.

This article was produced by the Reuters Fact Check team. Read more about our fact-checking work here.

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from Reuters India can be found here ***