<P> Ukraine, which initially abstained from adopting the Declaration, changed its approach to indigenous issues in response to the recent annexation of Crimea, asserting that Crimean Tatars are an Indigenous people . In May 2014, the country formally endorsed the UNDRIP . </P> <P> Ten UN member states in the Pacific, all with indigenous majorities, were absent from the assembly at the time of the vote: Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu . It is unclear whether this represents the equivalent of deliberate abstention, or whether the country delegations were absent for some other reason . The constitutions of these states typically make mention of "indigenous inhabitants" and accommodate customary laws in at least part of their modern legal systems . The constitution of Papua New Guinea, for example, has an explanatory section on the "underlying law" being based on custom, while Sch. 1.2. says that "custom" means "the customs and usages of indigenous inhabitants of the country ..." (emphasis added). It may be the case, therefore, that the governments of these states took the position that their own legal systems offered sufficient protection to their own indigenous peoples . There has been no suggestion at any time since decolonisation commenced in the 1960s and the present that indigenous people are absent from any of the ten countries . </P> <P> Nonetheless, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu are among countries in this group plagued by land grabbing in recent years . Researchers have warned that as much as 12% of the land surface of Papua New Guinea has been leased without informed consultation and consent from landowners, typically suppressing customary rights for 99 years . Given that land grabbing was recently ruled to lie within the remit of the International Criminal Court, it is a reasonable conclusion that legal systems in the Pacific, unsupported by UNDRIP, have insufficient built - in safeguards for the protection of indigenous rights . </P> <P> There are also significant implications in the extractive sector for these states not having signed UNDRIP . Mining companies that are members of the International Council on Mining and Metals commit to respect the ICMM's position statement on indigenous peoples . However, ambiguity surrounds how or if member companies recognise when they are dealing with indigenous peoples . For example, Barrick Gold lists only its operations in North and South America as lying on indigenous land, yet operates in Fiji and Papua New Guinea (where a subsidiary has operated the Porgera gold mine since 2007). Another member, Newmont Mining, said in its 2011 Sustainability Report that it had been conducting mining exploration in Papua New Guinea for three years, yet its disclosures do not show how activities in this country may have followed the ICCM's Indigenous Peoples and Mining Good Practice Guide, first published in 2010 . </P>

International convention on the rights of indigenous peoples