Venezuelan Exodus "Exiles" Raises 4 Million People

Nearly 4 million citizens fled the growing city The economic and political crisis of Venezuela, according to the latest figures from the United Nations. The exodus has reached an "astonishing" pace, rising from 695,000 people in 2015 to more than a million people since last November, the United Nations Refugee Agency announced on Friday. International Organization for Migration. .

Venezuela's neighbors have imposed regulatory measures to try to stop the flow of migrants, which is almost the largest in the history of Latin America. If the situation does not change, could soon exceed the 6.3 million refugees who fled the Syrian civil war.

Last year, more than a dozen countries met several times to deal with the influx of migrants who deplete resources and fuel tensions throughout the region. However, up to now, they have not adopted a common policy. On Thursday, Peru announced that it would increase controls later this month by forcing Venezuelans to seek prior humanitarian visas before crossing their borders.

According to the report, Colombia is the main destination for Venezuelans throughout Latin America, with nearly 1.3 million inhabitants. For its part, Peru hosts 768,000 people; Chile 288,000; Ecuador 263,000; Brazil 168,000 and Argentina 130,000. Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean also welcomed Venezuelans.

"These alarming numbers underscore the urgent need to support host communities in host countries," said Eduardo Stein, Special Joint Representative for Venezuelan refugees from UNHCR and IOM. "Countries are doing their part to respond to this unprecedented crisis, but we can not expect them to continue to do so without international badistance."