Durable solutions for indigenous migrants and refugees in the context of the Venezuelan flow in Brazil

Abstract

This work updates and qualifies the discussion on the migration of indigenous people from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to the Federative Republic of Brazil. To this end, it problematizes the traditional concept of “durable solutions” in the literature on migration and asylum and offers a set of recommendations for the construction of durable solutions that are culturally appropriate to the Brazilian context. For the creation of this document, a survey was conducted in the States of Roraima and Amazonas with the Warao, Eñepa and Pemón indigenous peoples of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as well as interviews and workshops with public managers, technicians, authorities and academics in Brasília, Manaus and Boa Vista. This publication brings new information in considering the challenges of the internal dynamics in the flow of indigenous migrants for structuring public policies, updating the information and analysis documents produced recently, particularly between 2017 and 2019. In addition, it discusses the concept of durable solutions by presenting some of the challenges faced from the different cultural reality of indigenous migrants. Finally, it outlines five steps for the construction of public policies to overcome the emergency in the medium- and long term that constitute culturally appropriate durable solutions. This study complies with international law and global good practices by indicating that no durable solution will be effective and socially fair without considering all stakeholders, especially the host community and the right to prior informed consultation of indigenous peoples.