Three young men stand at the entrance of the Indigenous Pemón village of Paraitepuy in the Gran Sabana, a region in southeastern Venezuela. Paraitepuy is a stone’s throw away from the iconic Monte Roraima, on the triple frontier shared by Venezuela, Guyana, and Brazil. Monte Roraima, a striking flat-topped peak, is a favorite among climbers and trekkers. The income generated by visitors to the rock formation once constituted a major source of income in Paraitepuy. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and crisis in Venezuela have seen income dwindling to a trickle, aggravating poverty and hunger in the village. Unemployment and a chronic lack of even basic services plague the Indigenous communities of the Gran Sabana, pushing some residents to leave their lands or resort to illegal wildcat mining, which has devastating health and environmental effects. UNHCR works with many of these vulnerable Indigenous communities, such as Paraitepuy, to help prevent displacement. The UN Refugee Agency has provided staple foods and basic items, such as solar-powered lamps, that improve residents’ quality of life and allow people to remain on their ancestral lands. ; UNHCR works within Venezuela to provide support to refugees inside the South American country, as well as with vulnerable Venezuelan populations at risk of displacement, and also with those returning to the country from abroad.
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