Attachments
Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the world: 5.5 M
Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean: 4.6 M
Context
• Starting in March 2020, countries in Latin America and the Caribbean adopted measures to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, including border closures and movement restrictions, which considerably limited the regular flow of refugees and migrants.
• Over the past months, refugees and migrants from Venezuela have become even more vulnerable, including loss of their already limited social and economic support to cover basic needs especially in vital areas such as shelter, food, protection and healthcare.
• For those on the move and in densely populated areas, physical distancing became virtually impossible to implement, facing additional stigma by host communities, including negative perceptions associated with a fear of the spread of the virus.
• Different sources estimate that over 100,000 Venezuelans have returned to their home country since early April. Nevertheless, the exodus of refugees and migrants from Venezuela continues to be the biggest population movement in Latin America’s recent history and one of the largest external displacements in the world.
• In the context of the development of the comprehensive Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) for 2021, the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform (R4V), commends the governments in the region for developing and enhancing their methodologies to reflect accurate figures of refugees and migrants from Venezuela currently in their countries.