The plan to unify three refuges for indigenous Venezuelans of the Warao ethnic group into one in Roraima, with the transfer of 1,500 of them to the same space, is generating tension and revolt among those sheltered. They claim they have not been consulted and fear that the move will bring precarious living conditions. This Friday (12), part of them left their current shelters as a form of protest.
The sites are located in Boa Vista and are managed by Operation Welcome, a humanitarian task force that assists Venezuelan refugees in Brazil, formed by the federal government, the Army, the UN and partner organizations.
The project foresees that the occupants of three of the shelters —Pintolândia, Nova Canaã and Tancredo Neves— will be transferred to another one that today concentrates non-indigenous Venezuelans, Rondon 3, considered the largest shelter for refugees and immigrants in Latin America. According to Acheira, initially the site will have a capacity for 1,500 indigenous people, with the possibility of expanding it to 2,000.
This would leave only one of the four current shelters for the Waraos, Jardim Floresta, designated as a “showcase”. The others have been facing structural and sanitary problems, such as open sewers, insecurity and lack of privacy.
Operation Welcome and the UNHCR (UN commissioner for refugees) say that the change is being proposed by a need to improve the infrastructure to serve this population. According to the agencies, it will bring benefits such as greater space, more access to services and centralized security.
But indigenous people and some humanitarian workers who serve this population say the plan is aimed at cutting resources and that the concentration of people could generate internal and external tensions — with non-indigenous Venezuelans living in neighboring Rondon 1 and 2 shelters. they also fear being affected by problems of urban violence that affect the region, such as the recruitment of youths by criminal gangs, drug trafficking and prostitution.
One of their main complaints is that they were not previously consulted on the issue, as provided for in Convention 169 of the ILO (International Labor Organization), referring to the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples.
The official announcement was only made this Thursday (11), in a tense meeting between the Waraos and representatives of the UNHCR and the Reception – after weeks of rumors. One official, who spoke to the reporter under the condition that he could not be identified, said that he and his colleagues were being instructed to say that they did not know anything, if asked about the matter by the indigenous people.
Aidamo (chief) Avigail Reinosa, 36, said that UNHCR only showed the restructuring project, without asking the Waraos for their opinion. He claims that Rondon 3 has no trees and has direct sunlight throughout the day, with tents that are very hot.
Reinosa also mentions the violence in the 13 de Setembro neighborhood, where the shelter is located. “The area is dominated by criminal factions, drugs and weapons circulate, there is prostitution. Our population will be very vulnerable,” he says, adding that the experience took place at the beginning of the operation and proved to be problematic.
Some Venezuelan refugees have already been victims of crimes in the region. In August of this year, Warao Junior José Zambrano Camacho, 28, was killed a week after being transferred to a non-indigenous refuge. He was found with hands and feet tied and signs of torture.
Camacho’s cousin, Aidamo Nail José Fuentes, 32, is responsible for the community at the Tancredo Neves shelter. “We don’t expect to have a very good relationship with the jotarao [venezuelanos não indígenas]. There are bad people who take advantage of our situation and want to force us to do dirty jobs, threatening us.”
The report witnessed when officials approached indigenous people who were protesting in front of Tancredo Neves. They say that the families who left there had been intending to leave the site since last week and that the decision is not related to the unification plan.
TO sheet Operation Welcome stated that there is no forecast for the start of restructuring and that Rondon 3 must undergo adaptations, with an area for handicrafts, shaded spaces, traditional kitchens, a playground and a green area for medicinal plants and traditional crops. “The relocation process during restructuring is gradual and voluntary,” the statement said.
UNHCR responded that the relocation is aimed at improving the services offered and “to seek greater alignment with international standards of emergency humanitarian response” and will only begin after “extensive consultation” with the sheltered indigenous community.
According to the agency, the greater privacy of the tents should reduce internal conflicts, and the proximity of other refuges will allow more efficient delivery of services to the indigenous people. Regarding the violence in the neighborhood, UNHCR says that the shelters are protected by military and outsourced services, with a 24-hour concierge and security, and that the centralization will increase protection in relation to the current situation.
The agency also said that there was no cut in resources for the operation in 2021 — the budget for next year has not yet been closed. The Union, however, has been reducing the amount earmarked for Reception: from BRL 280 million in 2020, the value dropped to BRL 90 million this year. Defense Minister Walter Braga Netto went so far as to say that the current amount only allowed him to maintain the actions until the end of July and asked for an additional R$ 178.9 million from the government.
This week, a commission from the CNDH (National Human Rights Council) visiting Roraima received a letter from a Warao leadership explaining its opposition to the unification of the refuges.
The president of the CNDH, Yuri Costa, says that the council “looks very carefully” at the directive to concentrate refugees and that it will monitor it to see if this system will produce a violation of human rights. “What worries us most is the indigenous sheltering. There was visibly resistance from the indigenous people, who are complaining that they are not having the prior consultation process respected. The council thinks that this consultation should be carried out.”
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