Group mobility Warao transcend the migratory condition in the country
With the worsening of the political and economic crisis in Venezuela in 2014, Brazil, as well as neighboring countries in South America, began to witness migration flows of indigenous people Warao. Coming from the Venezuelan Northeast, the group lived in stilt communities in the riverside areas of the region and their territorial exodus has been taking place since the 1970s to the urban centers of the country, caused by factors such as the damming of the river. ManamoThis resulted in the deterioration of the ethnic group's subsistence conditions, as well as the progressive invasion of their lands by farmers and cattle ranchers.
Warao indigenous people in Boa Vista, Roraima. Photo: Amazônia Real/Yolanda Simone (CC)
The Warao are the oldest indigenous ethnic group in the Orinoco Delta (Venezuela) and even though they have lived in an urban environment since the beginning of their exodus, the group has tried to maintain aspects of their culture. In Boa Vista, where the largest number of members of the group are to be found, the indigenous people were first received in a shelter run by the NGO International Humanitarian Fraternity in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Brazilian Army through Operation Welcome.
Between 2014 and 2016, the Federal Police deported 532 indigenous people at the request of Boa Vista City Hall, which responded to the request of people who were unhappy that they were begging for help around the city - an activity organized by the group since their arrival in Venezuela's urban centers as a survival strategy. Their displacement into the labor sector took place through unskilled labor and the sale of handicrafts.
This situation of irregular expulsion of the group is recurrent. Roberto Portela, a volunteer with the Archdiocese of Goiânia's Migrant Pastoral and a lay member of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of St. Charles Borromeo.Scalabrinians (MSCS)In the Goiás city of Anápolis, between November and December 2019, thirty-three people from the Warao allocated to the region were expelled by order of the City Hall, even after the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office recommended that they be welcomed. The case goes beyond any protocols for working with migrant populations due to the particularities of the group and the reactions of society, demanding specific legal protection.
According to André Paulo dos Santos Pereira, a prosecutor in Roraima and professor at the Federal University of Roraima (UFRR), in an interview with the newspaper ConJurAlthough Article 231 of the Federal Constitution recognizes indigenous peoples' right to social organization, customs, languages, beliefs, traditions and traditionally occupied land, the fact that the Warao do not own land in Brazilian territory does not prevent them from exercising their other rights, now that these are not conditional on locus physical. In addition, the law that created FUNAI (the National Indian Foundation) and the decree that regulates its statute do not restrict its work only to indigenous people of Brazilian nationality. In Amazonas, after the MPF took action in response to an appeal from civil society, the Ministry of Citizenship transferred 1.8 million reais to provide humanitarian assistance to migrants from the community Warao.
The need for an interlocutor who understands the socio-cultural context of the group is highlighted by volunteer Roberto Portela, who believes that there is a lack of preparation for welcoming these migrants, who have different ways of contacting and communicating with people outside their social group. Portela also reports that the Warao tend to prefer that only one interlocutor interacts with people outside the group, which restricts direct contact with the majority of the population.
Currently, the concern is about the possible contamination of indigenous peoples by the New Coronavirusin the midst of a pandemic that is scaring the world. In an interview with the BBC health doctor Sofia Mendonça, a researcher at the Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), says that there are considerable chances of the virus reaching indigenous groups, and that containment measures are also necessary with these peoples in mind.
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REMHU (Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Mobility) periodically publishes scientifically rigorous articles, reports and reviews on human mobility issues. Some of the texts already published have been on the subject of indigenous migration. Check out some of them in full and for free:
For more articles, check out the REMHU website here.
Text by: Luana G. Silveira
Communication Team - CSEM