The attacks by Brazilians on camps of Venezuelan migrants in the border city of Pararaima have spurred 1,200 Venezuelans to abandon the South American giant and have raised tensions in a region that is asking for aid from the government.

Pacaraima is experiencing a tense calm after the protests on Saturday that shifted to acts of vandalism and violence against Venezuelan migrants fleeing their country's economic, political and social crisis.</s>Brazil will send troops to its border with Venezuela on Monday after residents of the Brazilian border town of Pacaraima drove out Venezuelan immigrants from their improvised camps, amid growing regional tensions.

Tens of thousands of Venezuelans have crossed the border into Brazil over the past three years as they seek to escape the economic, political and social crisis gripping their country.

The latest show of tensions began early Saturday, hours after a local merchant was robbed and severely beaten in an incident blamed on Venezuelan suspects, in Pacaraima, where an estimated 1,000 immigrants are living on the streets.

Dozens of locals then attacked the two main immigrant makeshift camps and burned their belongings, leading Venezuelans to cross the border back into their home country.

Shots were fired, stores were shuttered and debris littered the streets.</s>SAO PAULO — Brazilian authorities say residents of the border town of Pacaraima attacked Venezuelan immigrants after a local storeowner was robbed, stabbed and beaten in an attack blamed on four immigrants.

Pacaraima, in the northern jungle state of Roraima, is a major border crossing between Brazil and Venezuela.

After a rally held Saturday to protest the attack against the storeowner, groups of residents roamed the town hurling rocks at the immigrants and setting fire to their belongings.

Police said the storeowner, who was beaten and robbed on Friday night, has been hospitalized and is in stable condition.

Fleeing the economic and political turmoil in their country, tens of thousands of Venezuelans have crossed the border into Brazil over the past few years.</s>Residents of the Brazilian border town of Pacaraima attacked Venezuelan immigrants on Saturday after a local storeowner was robbed, stabbed and beaten in an assault blamed on four migrants, authorities said.

Pacaraima, in the northern jungle state of Roraima, is a major border crossing with Venezuela, where economic and political turmoil has driven tens of thousands to cross into Brazil over the past few years.

After a rally held to protest the attack against the storeowner, groups of residents roamed the town hurling rocks at the immigrants and setting fire to their belongings.

Police said the storeowner, who was beaten and robbed on Friday night, has been hospitalized and is in stable condition.

The Roraima state government estimates that more than 50,000 Venezuelan refugees have crossed the border occupying already existing shelters or sleeping in tents. The influx was nearly equal to 10 percent of the state's population of 520,000 inhabitants.

Police said that to escape the violence, hundreds of immigrants crossed the border back into Venezuela.

On a video posted by the G1 news portal a man's voice is heard shouting "Get out. Get out. Go back to Venezuela."

Wandenberg Ribeiro Costa, one of the organizers of Saturday's rally, told the G1 news portal "we have expelled the Venezuelans."

Claudio Lamachia, president of the Brazilian Bar Association, said in a statement that the violence that took place in Pacaraima "exposed the humanitarian drama afflicting our neighbors ... who are trying to improve their lives and survive."

"The state of Roraima does not have the conditions to shelter all the immigrants," he said, adding that close to 800 Venezuelans enter Roraima every day.

Milene de Souza, a volunteer at an evangelical church, told the Associated Press by phone that the situation is desperate.

"The world has to see what is happening here, where no one knows what to do," she said, adding that every day she helps Venezuelan engineers, doctors, lawyers and other professionals who sleep on the streets "with their diplomas tucked under their pillows."</s>“The world has to see what is happening here, where no one knows what to do,” she said, adding that every day she helps Venezuelan engineers, doctors, lawyers and other professionals who sleep on the streets “with their diplomas tucked under their pillows.”
Brazilians attack Venezuelan migrants at a border camp, the Brazilian military is deployed to stem the conflict.