ReliefWeb

Boa Vista - IOM, the UN Migration Agency is today (04/05) supporting the relocation of 236 Venezuelans from the city of Boa Vista in the State of Roraima on the border with Venezuela, to the cities of Manaus and Sao Paulo, Brazil.

This is the second group to be relocated under the Relocation Strategy led by the Government of Brazil and supported by IOM and other UN Agencies including UNHCR and UNFPA. The initiative seeks to help Venezuelans find opportunities in other Brazil cities.

The first group of 265 Venezuelans was relocated to the cities of Sao Paulo and Cuiaba on 4 and 6 April respectively.

Today’s group is comprised of 34 families (152 individuals including 74 children) who will relocate to Manaus, and 84 individuals to Sao Paulo. The Venezuelans will be in six temporary sites (three in Manaus and three in Sao Paulo) where the local governments will provide them with accommodation, food, healthcare and labour market orientation. They will also receive support from the civil society and UN Agencies.

IOM’s logistical support to the Government includes the identification of the people who voluntarily want to relocate to other cities and coordination of transport and movement to the temporary shelter where the government health authorities perform their medical check-up. IOM also supports the preparation of their travel documents and provides orientation and information sharing on their destinations throughout Brazil.

The State of Roraima has registered the highest number of Venezuelans who have entered Brazil recently. Up to April, according to the Government, approximately 43,000 Venezuelans have applied for the regularization of their migration status in Brazil.

According to the latest IOM DTM report, of 3,500 Venezuelans interviewed in the cities of Boa Vista, Roriama’s capital and Pacaraima, border city with Venezuela, 65 per cent are willing to move to other cities in Brazil.

Viviane Esse, Government Representative (Casa Civil), said that the collaboration between the Government and the UN agencies involved in the relocation strategy, including IOM, has been crucial to implement the relocation strategy.

Anderson Martínez, a Venezuelan who will be relocated to Sao Paulo, said that his expectations are focused on finding a job to send money to his children in Venezuela and also learn the language. “If, in the future, the situation in my country improves, I will go back; otherwise I will bring my children to live in Brazil with me,” said Martínez.

Stephane Rostiaux, IOM Chief of Mission in Brazil, explained that IOM has been monitoring the situation of Venezuelans in the State of Roraima together with the Brazilian authorities since 2016. “Through our office in Boa Vista, we have been providing support to the local government in the registration and documentation of Venezuelan citizens as well as in the reception of the flows and in the implementation of projects to allow their integration,” Rostiaux said.

According to a recent IOM report, Brazil is one several new destinations for Venezuelans along with Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay.

For more information, please contact Juliana Quintero at the IOM Regional Office in Buenos Aires, Tel: + (54) 11 4813 3330, Email: juquintero@iom.int