Venezuelan migrants in Latin America will be 8.9 million in 2022

The United Nations (UN) warned this Thursday (9) that by the end of 2022 there will be 8.9 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees living in 17 countries in Latin America, surpassing the current 6 million.

The alert was made by Eduardo Stein, joint special representative of the UN agency for refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), at the launch of the Regional Response Plan for Refugees and Migrants (RMRP). The plan predicts that $1.79 million will be needed to support Venezuelans who have escaped the political, economic and social crisis in their country.

According to Stein, the number includes "6 million Venezuelan people at the destination, another 1.9 million commuters and nearly 1 million Colombian returnees."

“An estimated 8.4 million people will need assistance, including 2 million members of host communities. This is a strong increase in people in need compared to previous years. challenges facing both Venezuelan refugees and migrants and host communities," he added.

The UN representative also said that 3.8 million Venezuelans will receive direct assistance from the RMRP 2022, a program that has reached an unprecedented 192 members, including 23 organizations from the Venezuelan diaspora, led by refugees and migrants, as well as 117 organizations non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

According to Eduardo Stein, the program plans to strengthen the processes of recognition of academic degrees and professional certifications, livelihoods, generation of resources and the execution of social cohesion programs to fight xenophobia.

Basic needs

The health sector will have the largest number of beneficiaries, with 2.72 million, which demonstrates, according to the UN, the number of people with health problems in the context of the covid-19 pandemic and the importance of strengthening systems to provide health services to refugees, migrants and host communities.

Stein explained that by 2022, most Venezuelan migrants "will have spent several years in host communities" and therefore their needs go beyond "immediate life-saving interventions, to include access, regularization, documentation, protection, self-sufficiency and integration".

"For this reason, supporting regularization and documentation initiatives for Venezuelan refugees and migrants is a priority for the RMRP 2022. Linked to this is the priority of facilitating local integration by promoting inclusion in national social protection systems, plans covid-19 vaccination plans and longer-term plans to ensure the right to health, education, housing and other essential services," he noted.

The political, economic and social crisis in Venezuela has worsened since January 2019, when the then president of the Parliament, the opponent Juan Guaidó, publicly swore to assume the functions of interim president of the country, until removing Nicolás Maduro from power, convening a government of transition and free and democratic elections.

Text translated using artificial intelligence.