A Venezuelan human rights organisation revealed that after being forced to leave Guyana, members of the Warao Indigenous community were forced to work for no pay in illegal gold mines. For up to three weeks, around 1,500 members of the community were unable to flee this situation of slave-like exploitation. This began in May 2021, when the Warao were rounded up and taken to work in illegal mines in Kumaka, a northern coastal area of Guyana. Guyanese recruiters enticed Warao individuals to work under false pretences, promising jobs as vegetable pickers. Instead, these individuals were sent to work in the mines under hazardous and inhumane conditions. Guyana has received thousands of Venezuelan refugees, with significant Warao migration starting in December 2020. Migrants face various exploitative schemes, with those in paid work receiving less than 50% of the average salary. Due to this precarious situation, the Warao community is at risk of being exposed to the criminal economy along the Venezuela-Guyana border, including the smuggling of drugs, oil and contraband goods.