Health crisis brings Brazilian Yanomami to the streets

BOA VISTA, Brazil (AP) — From afar, the small group lying on the sidewalk outside the Municipal Market could be mistaken for the hundreds of homeless people scattered across Boa Vista.

But they are Yanomami, an indigenous people of the Amazon jungle who often live in relative isolation. Years of neglect under the previous government of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro sparked a health crisis that worsened when illegal gold diggers invaded its territory. Dozens of Yanomami ended up wandering into the region’s largest city.

The oldest in a group living at the Boa Vista food market are a couple: Oma Yanomami, 46, and Bonita Yanomami, 35. Both are from the Koroasipiitheri community, only accessible by plane. In September, they were medically deported to Boa Vista to accompany their 3-year-old son, who was suffering from malaria.

At first they stayed at the Casai de Salud Indígena known as Casai, a federal center on the outskirts of Boa Vista, a sprawling city of 440,000 people and the state capital of Roraima. But at first the family left the center and started living on the streets.

“There were a lot of people,” Oma Yanomami told The Associated Press Thursday in broken Portuguese, sitting on the dirty sidewalk. By his side, his wife slept despite the heavy traffic in the area. Both had bruises and appeared in poor health.

A report released this week by the Ministry of Health paints a grim picture of Casai, which was built to house Yanomami on treatment and their families. Its capacity is 200 people, but it accommodates up to 700, which represents 2% of the Yanomami population. This figure does not include those who are hospitalized, including several severely malnourished children.

“The toilets are unsanitary and the eating areas insufficient and disgusting. Also, until a few months ago, food was insufficient,” the report said. “The Yanomami lack space to prepare their food and carry out other activities, so at night there are several drunk people , and there are reports of violence and hit-and-runs.”

According to the report, 150 Yanomami can return to their villages, but the wait for a seat on a return flight can be long. In an extreme case, 10 years.

Some 30,000 Yanomami live in Brazil’s largest indigenous territory, covering an area roughly the size of Portugal and spanning the states of Roraima and Amazonas, at the northwestern tip of the Brazilian Amazon. .

Street life has taken its toll on Oma and Bonita Yanomami. Shortly after, their son contracted pneumonia, while they fell into alcoholism. Health workers quickly learned of the situation and took the boy to a local hospital. There he was registered as “needy”, which placed him in the adoption process without parental consent.

For four months, the couple did not see their son. Then social workers affiliated with the indigenous movement came to visit him. The future of the child now depends on a court decision.

It is not uncommon to find Yanomami on the streets of Boa Vista, most of them with alcoholism problems. Some return to Casai overnight, while others end up under overpasses.

His life is complicated. Two weeks ago, a Yanomami woman gave birth on the sidewalk. On Thursday, a Yanomami man died several days after being injured in a fight inside a prison, according to the state attorney general. There are 269 detainees in Roraima belonging to various indigenous groups.

In January, the federal government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva declared a public health emergency for the Yanomami people. Since then, military doctors have treated more than a thousand people in a field hospital in Boa Vista and 4,000 food baskets have been distributed across the vast territory.

Simultaneously, the security forces began destroying equipment and controlling the entry of illegal gold diggers, around 20,000 people. As a result, dozens have decided to leave the indigenous territory, while many more continue to mine for gold.

Indigenous organizations now want the Yanomami boy, who just turned 4, back with his parents so they can board a plane and return to Koroasipiitheri, where six siblings are waiting for them.

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