UNITED NATIONS.- The agencies of the HIM have requested $1.59 billion to provide aid to three million refugees and migrants in Venezuela and members of their host communities in Latin America during 2024.
Remembering that, of the 7.7 million people who are outside Venezuela, more than 6.5 million have ended up in other countries in the area.
The Regional Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants of Venezuela (R4V), headed by the International Organization for Migration and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), warned that, today, four million people remain needing humanitarian aid or some type of protection measure.
More than 60 percent of the people who have been forced to leave Venezuela have managed to regularize their situation, but one in three still does not have a stable status or the necessary documentation that ultimately allows them to qualify for decent jobs. health, housing or education services.
The joint special representative of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and UNHCR to this emergency, Eduardo Stein, highlighted that “the countries of the region have done an excellent job welcoming refugees and migrants,” but admitted that “their capacities are at the limit” and who have difficulties in managing issues such as the resolution of asylum applications or regularization.
For this reason, it considers that “a significant, predictable and long-term financial effort is needed to guarantee that Venezuelans have access to basic services, formal employment, health and education”, in such a way that “they integrate effectively and contribute to the countries that host them”. A year after the launch of the UN response plan, barely 20 percent of the required funds have been received.
Adequate care for migrants also ensures that they are not forced to embark on dangerous journeys such as the one that takes them to cross what is known as the Darién Gap, a jungle area between Colombia and Panama that involves serious dangers. The UN has also detected cases of expulsions and deportations of Venezuelans by some countries.
Source: With information from Europa Press
