Displaced indigenous communities left stranded during Covid-19 pandemic

Human rights organizations have frequently warned of the increased risks to indigenous populations during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the World Health Organization recently singling out traditional communities in Latin America as being particularly vulnerable. However, it is not only the coronavirus that has put these populations at risk, with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNCRH) alerting that up to 5,000 indigenous people from several ethnic groups are currently displaced in Brazil, showing that the already existent migrant crisis has hit these communities twice as hard.

While risk of infection of Covid-19 is certainly a concern, migrant indigenous groups are faced with considerable physical barriers, with countries closing their borders to limit the pandemic spread. Colombia and Venezuela, which form a three-way border with Brazil along the Rio Negro.

The government in Caracas has tried to avoid the entrance of Brazilians, imposing curfew measures in...