Already 3.4 million Venezuelans have left their country: what places do they choose to live

DPA / Europa Press Agency

A total of 3.4 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years and reside in different parts of the world, mainly in the countries of the region, according to the latest data released on Friday by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees . (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

According to UN agencies, about 5,000 Venezuelans were leaving the country on average every day in 2018 "in search of protection and a better life" in the face of the severe political, economic crisis and social in which Venezuela is located.

Of this total, 2.7 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees are in countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Colombia is currently the largest host country, with more than 1.1 million, followed by Peru (506,000), Chile (288,000), Ecuador (221,000), Argentina ( 130,000) and Brazil (96,000).

As emphasized by UNHCR and IOM, Latin American countries have granted 1.3 million residence permits and other forms of regular status to Venezuelans, in addition to strengthen their asylum systems to handle an unprecedented number of requests. In total, since 2014, 390,000 asylum applications have been filed by Venezuelans, of whom only 232,000 were lodged last year.

"The countries of the region have shown immense solidarity with the refugees and migrants of Venezuela and have put in place resolute solutions to help them," said the special representative for the crisis of the UNHCR and the United Nations. IOM, Eduardo Stein.

However, he stressed that "these figures highlight the pressure exerted on the host communities and the constant need for support from the international community at a time when the world's attention is focused on the political events in Venezuela".