Technical Report Mobile Migrant population study Suriname Assessment of mobile migrant population size, demographics, turnover, movement, and priority health needs Dr. Marieke Heemskerk, Dr. Eelco Jacobs, Dr. Pierre Pratley Royal Tropical Institute, Amsterdam Second final draft, 26 March 2021 Content Abbreviations 6 Executive Summary 7 Acknowledgements 11 Introduction 12 Background: A brief review of mobile migrant populations in Latin America and Suriname and the relation with malaria transmission risk 12 Study rationale 15 Study goals and objectives 16 Study design and Methodology 17 Study design 17 2.2 Quantitative survey 17 3.1.1 Survey locations 17 3.1.2 Sampling method and sample characteristics 18 2.3 Calculation of size of the population 18 2.3.1 Analysis of Quantitative survey 21 2.3.2 Qualitative interviews 21 2.4 Limitations and challenges 21 2.5 Ethical considerations 22 2.6 Quality assurance plan 22 Results 23 Estimation of mobile migrant population size 23 3.1.3 Population size estimates 23 3.1.4 Population turn-over 25 3.2 Mobile migrant population demographics and characteristics 27 3.2.1 Presence of women and gender differences 27 3.2.2 Children and teenagers 28 3.2.3 Working with family 31 3.2.4 Professions 31 3.2.5 Earnings 33 3.2.6 Country of origin 33 3.3 Cross-border movement 36 3.3.1 International ASM-related migration to Suriname by air. 36 3.3.2 Entry routes into Suriname 38 3.3.3 Entry routes into French Guiana 39 3.3.4 Cross-border movement between Suriname and French Guiana 42 3.3.5 Problems with authorities during migration 43 3.3.6 Mapping migration to and within Suriname and French Guiana 44 2 3.4 Mobility: Choosing and changing work locations 46 3.4.1 Selecting a country to work 46 3.4.2 Selecting a place to work 46 3.4.3 Leaving a work site 48 3.4.4 Frequency of changing work locations 49 3.4.5 Taking a break: leaving the garimpo 52 3.5 Other mobile and migrant populations in Suriname 54 3.5.1 Highland Indigenous peoples 54 3.5.2 Lowland Indigenous peoples 54 3.5.3 Maroons 57 3.5.4 Migrants in the logging sector 57 3.6 Health 57 3.6.1 Health concerns 57 3.6.2 Access to health care 60 3.6.3 COVID-19 62 3.6.4 Home remedies and Over-The-Counter-Medication against COVID-19 65 3.6.5 Risk perceptions 66 3.6.6 Impact of COVID-19 on work and income 68 4 Discussion and conclusion 70 4.1 Discussion 70 4.1.1 Challenging stereotypes 70 4.1.2 Migration trends 70 4.1.3 Migrants and disease: the case of Covid 72 4.2 Conclusion 72 5 Recommendations 74 6 References 76 7 Annexes 80 3 List of Tables Table 1. Number of individuals surveyed per survey location..................................................................................... 17 Table 2. Sample characteristics .................................................................................................................................... 18 Table 3: Overview of data sources used to calculate size of the migrant population................................................. 19 Table 4: Population estimates of ASM mobile migrants, including margins, source and method of estimation ....... 23 Table 5. Estimated ASM population in Suriname, using the deforestation and the gold production methods ......... 25 Table 6. Percentage of persons who had their first experience in ASM in the Suriname-French Guiana mining region in different time periods. ............................................................................................................................................. 26 Table 7. Presence of children in the garimpos of French Guiana ................................................................................ 29 Table 8. Presence of children in the garimpos of Suriname ........................................................................................ 29 Table 9. Professions of male and female respondents in Suriname and French Guiana mining areas. ..................... 32 Table 10: Average numbers of passengers and range (in annual figures) entering Suriname from Brazil at JAP airport........................................................................................................................................................................... 37 Table 11: Modes of entry into Suriname, the most recent time that the person entered (N=323, only migrants) ... 38 Table 12. Primary reason to select the working location where the person is working at the moment .................... 47 Table 13. Primary reason to leave the previous working location .............................................................................. 48 Table 14. Reasons to leave the garimpo for at least one week in 2020 ...................................................................... 53 Table 15. Non-mining mobile and migrant populations in the Suriname interior ...................................................... 56 Table 16: Respondent report of ever feeling discriminated against and where (N=358) ........................................... 62 Table 17: Respondent’s report on knowledge regarding means of contracting COVID-19 (n=361) and symptoms of COVID-19 (n=361) ........................................................................................................................................................ 63 Table 18. Reasons for believing not to be at risk of contracting COVID-19 (Ntotal=122) .............................................. 67 Table 19. Reasons for believing to be at risk to become infected with COVID-19 (N=227) ....................................... 67 Table 20: Profile, nationality, number of movements, country of movement and factors influencing movement for migrant mobile population .......................................................................................................................................... 71 Table 21. Figures, calculations and assumptions to get to population figures using gold export and production data ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 83 List of Figures Figure 1. Location of main ASM sites in Suriname and French Guiana ....................................................................... 20 Figure 2. Use of ASM-induced deforestation data to estimate population size ......................................................... 24 Figure 3. Number of years ago that the person started working in the ASM sector .................................................. 26 Figure 4. Reported country of birth (N=361) ............................................................................................................... 28 Figure 5. Maroon children of primary school age performing mining activities, Brokopondo district ....................... 30 Figure 6. Artisanal and Small-scale Mining methods used in Suriname and French Guiana....................................... 32 Figure 7. Country of origin of the ASM population, differentiated by sex and work country. .................................... 34 Figure 8: Annual arrival of Brazilians in Suriname according to data provided by Stichting Tourisme Suriname (STS) and the Military Policy (MP), and annual number of passengers from and to Brazil as recorded by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (IBGE) ................................................................................................................. 37 Figure 9. Point of entry into French Guiana, the first time the person entered French Guiana to work in the garimpo (Ntotal=169) .................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Figure 10. International migration routes of persons working in the ASM sector in Suriname and French Guiana .. 41 Figure 11: How many times did the person cross the border from Suriname to French Guiana in 2020 .................. 42 Figure 12. Travel routes of artisanal and small-scale gold miners and mining service providers within Suriname, and between Suriname and French Guiana........................................................................................................................ 45 Figure 13. Where did the person start work in the ASM sector (Ntotal=361) ............................................................... 46 Figure 14. Number of times the person moved work locations in the two years preceding the interview (2019- 2020) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 50 Figure 15. Where did people go when they left the garimpo for at least a week in the year 2020. .......................... 53 4 Figure 16: Health issues that are of most concern respondent when working in the gold mines (N=360). Percentages refer to the complete sample (“all”) ....................................................................................................... 59 Figure 17: Respondents report of where they would treatment by type of disease and location of work (n=192 for ASM workers mostly working in Suriname, n=169 for French Guiana) ....................................................................... 61 Figure 18. COVID-19 symptoms named by survey respondents (N=361) ................................................................... 64 Figure 19. Pharmaceuticals used against COVID-19 ...................................................................................................