MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th December, 2020) The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday expressed sadness over a shipwreck off the Venezuelan coast that left up to 25 refugees and migrants from the Latin American country dead or missing.
On Monday, the Venezuelan prosecutor general's office said that at least 20 people died after a boat with migrants heading for Trinidad and Tobago sank off the country's eastern coast over the weekend, adding that the boat's owner was arrested. The number of Venezuelans leaving their homeland has increased in recent weeks as lockdown measures across the region ease. People try to flee the economic crisis that has only worsened with the introduction of coronavirus-related restrictions.
"UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are deeply distressed by the death or disappearance at sea of up to 25 refugees and migrants from Venezuela, including children, after their boat capsized en route to Trinidad and Tobago. According to reports, between 14 and 21 bodies were found over the weekend floating in waters near the Venezuelan coastal town of Guiria," the UNHCR said in a press release.
The international organizations expressed their readiness to support the Venezuelan authorities, as well as called on Caracas to take urgent measures "to stop smugglers and traffickers from sending people on these perilous journeys and to protect refugees and migrants from exploitation and abuse."
The incident became the second recorded shipwreck off Venezuela this year. In 2019, three boats were reported missing between Venezuela and the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Curacao, with the incidents claiming the lives of at least 80 people.
