On World Refugee Day, the Venezuelan opposition called for help for the 5.6 million migrants: “They were exiled by the dictatorship”

The Venezuelan opposition advocated this Sunday, World Refugee Day, for the protection of Venezuelan migrants who have had to leave their country fleeing the alarming economic, political and social crisis.

“Today is World Refugee Day. We never thought he would be commemorated for Venezuela. And it is that we are a country outside a country. 5.6 million exiles by the dictatorship who deserve protection, education, access to vaccines and professional integration “, David Smolansky, Commissioner of the Organization of American States for the Venezuelan Refugee and Migrant Crisis, spoke on his social networks.

In this sense, the representative of Acting President Juan Guaidó to the United Nations, Miguel Pizarre, also reiterated “The need” for millions of Venezuelan migrants “to be protected and to be able to provide them with the necessary tools to have a quality of life, access to health, food, education and work.

“The Venezuelan migration crisis is the most serious in the world today, because of its time and its impact. Migration has not been an easy decision for more than 5.5 million Venezuelans. The return of democracy to Venezuela will be the return of our people, ”Guaidó said.

According to the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 5.4 million people have left Venezuela since 2014 to flee “violence, insecurity and threats, as well as a lack of food, medicine and medicine. essential services ”.

This week was held in Canada the International Conference of Donors in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants, which fulfilled the commitment of countries and institutions to contribute $ 1,554 million to this crisis, including 954 million in donations and 600 million. million credits.

In the same case, Colombia pledged to grant temporary protection status to 1.8 million migrants While other countries, such as Peru, Ecuador, the Dominican Republic and the United States, have proposed similar measures to regularize the displaced.

The conference, described by the Nicolás Maduro dictatorship as a “media farce”, was organized by Canada in collaboration with the UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The UNHCR High Commissioner, Philippe Grandi, underlined this Sunday the regularization of nearly a million Venezuelan migrants undertaken by Colombia and asked the international community to support the process which has been reproduced in other Latin American countries.

“It is essential that the international community support Colombia and the region to consolidate these integration processes”Grandi said during the commemoration of World Refugee Day in Bogotá, during an event with President Iván Duque.

Colombia began in March the regularization of 900,000 Venezuelan migrants who fled the economic crisis in their country. The process was then followed by Peru, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador.

“These various initiatives which could benefit more than 3 million Venezuelans should serve as a model of solidarity throughout the world”Grown up added.

Temporary protection status allows undocumented migrants to transit through Colombia and It gives them 10 years to acquire a resident visa. Those who enter irregularly over the next two years will also be able to benefit from the allowance.

“About a million” of them will receive in December their “card with biometric identification which allows them to exercise their rights,” said Duque.

The Colombian president has repeatedly stressed that the Venezuelan exodus, considered the second largest in the world after that of Syria, has not received support from other migration crises.

About 1.8 of the more than 5 million Venezuelans who have fled their country are in Colombia, according to the local immigration authority. Without diplomatic relations, the two countries share a porous border of approximately 2,200 kilometers.

On Thursday, more than 30 countries, led by the United States, pledged more than $ 1.5 billion to witness the Venezuelan exodus. “We hope this will translate into quick disbursements and not a tireless bureaucratic pilgrimage that hinders access to resources.”Duque added.

In 2021, the number of refugees, internally displaced persons and asylum seekers rose to 82.4 million in 2020, 4% more than the 79.5 million recorded in 2019, which was already a record.

With information from EFE and AFP

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