A/HRC/44/54 physical punishment on those who break the rules; and gain economic benefit from all activity within the mining area, including through extortion in exchange for protection. The information available shows that organized criminal groups, locally called sindicatos (unions), control most mines. 35 Although illegal mining has existed in Bolívar State for more than 20 years, the presence of criminal groups in mining activities has become more visible since 2011, when concessions for foreign mining companies were terminated. 36 Their presence has increased sharply since 2015, coinciding with the rise in international gold prices. These groups replicate the structure of pranatos, which exist in some prisons in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, whereby a “boss” forcibly imposes internal order and controls illicit activities inside and outside. OHCHR also received information indicating that, more recently, armed irregular groups have seized control of certain mines in the central part of Bolívar State and in the eastern part of the State, near the border with Guyana. 41. Accounts documented by OHCHR describe that levels of labour, exploitation, trafficking and violence are high, owing to the existence of a corruption and bribery scheme by groups controlling the mines, whereby they pay off military commanders to maintain their presence and illegal activities. 42. Owing to the economic crisis, internal migration to the mining area has increased exponentially, although there is no official information on the number of people currently engaged in mining within Arco Minero del Orinoco. A significant portion of the population migrates temporarily from across the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to work in and around the mines owing to unemployment in their communities of origin or leaving their jobs in other sectors, including education and health, because of the low wages, seeking to better support their families. The vast majority have no previous mining experience. 43. Within Arco Minero del Orinoco, the most widely used technique is open-pit mining whereby large cuts or holes are made in the earth. Miners explained that they descend into pits without any protection, sometimes even barefoot, to collect rocks and climb back up with them in loaded bags. The work is organized in crews of four or five miners, doing day and night shifts of approximately 12 hours. Former miners reported that accidents were common, and they had witnessed landslides in which miners were buried alive. 44. The vast majority of work in Arco Minero del Orinoco is informal, with people holding no employment contracts. OHCHR identified a pattern of labour exploitation whereby miners are forced to give up a large percentage of the gold they extract to the various actors who control the mines. They are generally required to pay about 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the ore mined to the criminal or armed groups in order to work, and pay approximately 15 per cent to 30 per cent to the owner of the mill where rocks are crushed for gold extraction. Gold buyers purchase the gold at a rate of 25 per cent below international prices. Additionally, miners have to pay high prices for food and water to vendors within the area, who in turn have to pay a fee to the criminal or armed groups controlling the mines. Although incomes in Arco Minero del Orinoco are generally higher than in the rest of the country, some miners indicated they were barely able to survive or support their families. 45. According to accounts received by OHCHR, most miners camp on the margins of mining areas, using plastic sheeting and wooden boards as shelters. They do not have access to water or sanitation services, and are not connected to electricity. 46. Women also engage in mining and in all kinds of mining-related work, including working as vendors. Many travel to the mines to work as cooks. Several accounts highlighted a sharp increase since 2016 in prostitution, sexual exploitation and trafficking in mining areas, including of adolescent girls. Prostitution is either organized in nearby 35 36 These groups are known as sindicatos (unions) because they originally emerged from construction unions in Ciudad Bolívar that were practising extortion. When the crisis hit basic industries in Bolívar 36 State, members of those unions transferred their operations to mining activities. On 23 August 2011, the President nationalized all mining companies operating in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Decree No. 8,413). On 23 August 2011, the President nationalized all mining companies operating in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Decree No. 8,413). 9