UN migration agency rolls out regional response to ongoing Venezuelans exodus

UNHCR/Reynesson Damasceno

More than one million Venezuelans have left their country, many, like this family, are seeking shelter at Simon Bolivar Square in Boa Vista, Roraima, northern Brazil.

10 April 2018

Migrants and Refugees

The United Nations migration agency on Tuesday launched a regional action plan to bolster its response to massive population outflows from Venezuela, amid the worsening political and socio-economic situation in the South American country.

As the exodus has considerably increased over the last two years, an estimated 1.6 million Venezuelans were abroad in 2017, up from 700,000 in 2015, with 1.3 million in the Americas, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“The plan is tailored to specific national contexts across 17 countries including eight South American countries, six Caribbean countries, two Central American countries and Mexico,” explained Marcelo Pisani, IOM Regional Director for Central America, North America and the Caribbean.

The exodus is not letting up. For instance, more than 800 Venezuelans are estimated to be entering Brazil each day, bringing the total arrivals to more than 52,000 since the beginning of 2017, according to the host Government.

IOM’s regional plan seeks to strengthen the response to the needs and priorities expressed by concerned governments and focuses on such activities as data collection and dissemination, capacity building and coordination, direct support and socio-economic integration.

Diego Beltrand, IOM Regional Director for South America, encourages host countries to consider adopting measures, such as regularizing the stay of Venezuelans, and called for the international community to contribute to the regional plan, which requires $32.3 million to implement.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/04/1006931

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