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Manaus Declares State of Emergency after Arrival of Venezuelan Indians

05/09/2017 - 12h33

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FABIANO MAISONNAVE
FROM MANAUS

Fleeing the Venezuelan crisis and the poor conditions in Boa Vista (State of Roraima), a group of around 450 Indians of the indigenous Warao people have arrived in the last few weeks in Manaus, the Capital of Amazonas, leading the Mayor's Office to declare a state of social emergency.

Part of the Warao are camped next to the bus station, in donated tents and under tarps. Another group is being housed in precarious buildings in the city center.

Due to unhealthy conditions, the Warao are confronting a major outbreak of chickenpox, which has already killed a five-month-old child who was at the bus station, in addition to pneumonia and tuberculosis.

Bruno Kelly/Folhapress
Warao Indians in Manaus
Warao Indians in Manaus

Another 36-year-old-Indian died in the center but the cause of death still hasn't been determined. His friends suspect that the reason may have been high temperatures in the unventilated building where he was being housed.

Native to the northeast of Venezuela (about 1.800 kilometers from Manaus), the Warao started arriving in December and have been surviving mainly through donations, help from the state, and from handicrafts that they sell in the street as well as occasional work.

In the areas where they are concentrated, the thing that draws the most attention is the number of children - there are 180, according the State Justice Secretary. Many of them spend their days begging in the streets.

According to the Manager for the transient street population of the State Justice Secretary, Gilmar Camabeth, the declaration of emergency was discussed in an inter-sectorial group regarding the subject that includes City Hall, the State Government, the Federal Public Prosecutor's Office, and the Migrant Pastoral from the Catholic Church.

The motive for declaring it is to speed up the process of getting help for the Warao.

Speaking to Folha, the Warao explained that before arriving in Manaus they had spent a period of time in Boa Vista, which is 780 kilometers to the north and close to Venezuela, but that they had difficulty in securing food there.

"In Boa Vista, we were more protected. Here, we don't have roofs and the children are close to the cars, but what's good is that here a variety of food arrives. There, it was just rice with bones", said Anibal Perez, 29, who came together with his wife and two children, one three-year-old and another one-year-old.

The family has been in Manaus for three weeks, after having spent three months in Boa Vista. For now, they aren't thinking of returning to Venezuela: "We know that there is a crisis in Brazil, but at least we manage to get food."

Translated by LLOYD HARDER

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