RPT - European Solidarity Conference On Venezuela Ends With Calls For 'More Donors, Please'

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2019) The two-day European conference on Venezuela, convened under the auspices of the European Union, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), concluded in Brussels with calls to donor to boost even more the financial support of the cause.

The event, dubbed International solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis, was called to "mobilize the global solidarity for Venezuelan refugees and migrants." With 120 delegations from the EU member-states and Latin American countries that were impacted by the issue, the conference was massively focused on the financial side of the matter. For EU High Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini, who co-chaired the event along with UNHCR's Filippo Grandi and IOM's Antonio Vitorino, it also was a "swan song," since she is due to end her tenure on October 31.

In Venezuela, which is in a deep economic and political crisis, the incumbent government of Nicolas Maduro faces a strong parliamentary opposition that has tried repeatedly to overthrow the government. The latest attempt occurred in January, when opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president. Several countries, including the United States, have endorsed him as Venezuela's leader and urged Maduro to step down, while a number of other countries, including Russia and China, have reaffirmed their recognition of the incumbent government. The incumbent president, in turn, has accused the US of attempting to orchestrate a coup in the country and bring Guaido to power with an ultimate goal of acquiring access to the Venezuelan oil reserves. The country, rich in oil and gas, and with a population of 31.6 million, is roughly cut in halves with about as many supporters in either of the camps.

The economic and political turmoil, topped with the economic pressure by third countries, has brought about mighty waves of migration from Venezuela spreading across the hemisphere. Of Venezuela's 31.6 million population, more than 4 million have left the country - the equivalent of the entire population of Ireland or Panama. More than 5,000 continue abandoning the country every day, in dire conditions. There are 1.4 million of them in Colombia, hundreds of thousands in Peru (860,000), Ecuador (330,000), Brazil (212,000), Panama (90,000) and other countries.

"Daily arrivals is a stark reminder that the crisis continues. The number will go to 6.5 million refugees, nearly 85 percent of them in Latin America. Currently, there is no clear prospect that the outflow will cease," Eduardo Stein, the joint UNHCR-IOM special representative for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and the former foreign minister of Guatemala, told Sputnik.

Of all Venezuelan refugees, only 2 million have been documented and officially registered as refugees, he added.

"The number of asylum requests is still increasing. It is a humanitarian issue, but also an organizational challenge for the administration in Peru. We have to document these people and give them ID cards," a Peruvian delegate to the conference, Ambassador Jorge Antonio Mendez Torres-Llosa, told Sputnik.

According to the diplomat, funds are also needed toward such basic needs as the education and health care of refugees.

"They do not have health insurance covering them. We have a public insurance in Peru, but with contribution of the Peruvian people. We need another $120 million if we want to cover the asylum seekers. At least $21 million is needed for the education of the children of these migrants," Torres-Llosa continued.

Aside from education and health care, employment is another major challenge for the recipient countries. While certain professionals, such as doctors or engineers, are welcomed even if they are refugees, others face serious hardships trying to make living outside of their homeland.

"There is also a secondary impact for the host countries. The challenge faced by receiving governments is in education and employment. They are impacted by the arrival of migrants. Immense pressures take multiple forms: from stresses in budgets to the increasing negative opinion of the population. The lack of documentation by refugees means that they will take irregular roots and be even more vulnerable," UNHCR-IOM Special Representative said.

Many Venezuelans, deciding to leave the homeland, end up experiencing harassment, violence and other challenges in pursuit of refuge in other countries.

"Of particular concern, is the high number of vulnerable people, such as families, single women, unaccompanied children. There is a serious risk of exploitation and abuse, with family separation for example. Xenophobia increases in the host countries and refugees face increased hurdles," Eduardo Stein of the UNHCR-IOM said.

According to the special representative, certain regional programs have been launched to fight xenophobia and facilitate the integration of refugees in other ways. For example, by recognizing the diplomas and qualifications of the refugees and considering expired passports valid.

"Health and education are the priority in most parts of the region. 370,000 receive food assistance and 200,000 medical assistance," Stein added.

A delegate from Guyana explained, for example, that Venezuelans massively arrive to the Guyanese northwest, and that the population of this poor area, which is normally of 16,000, has now reached 55,000 and continues growing.

"The borders are porous and it is not a sustainable situation. We fulfill our humanitarian obligations at best we can but we need help," he said.

How much it all will cost is a puzzle no smaller than in what way the aid will be distributed among the recipient states.

"In 2018, to give an indication, our overall budget allocation was 90 million Dollars to meet the needs of the migrants. The main part goes to health care. Our Constitution guarantees that all people present on the territory of Ecuador have access to health institutions, regardless of their origin. Another issue, such as education, has required an additional 10 million dollars. In the coming months and years, we see our budget allocation for the refugees and migrants to be about 26 percent for health, 23 percent for education, 23 percent for accommodation, 12 percent to social inclusion, and the rest to mobility and capacity building as well as training for the labor market," Ecuadorian Ambassador Efrain Baus Palacios said.

Between 2014-2020, the EU has envisaged an approximate 3.6 billion Euros fund to invest in the region, including toward public management reforms, modernization of the public sector, regional economic integration, agriculture, food and nutrition programs, security and rule of law, as well as climate change and humanitarian assistance.

In the closing remarks to the conference, Mogherini in a straightforward way practically called for more money from donors, promising an additional 30 million euros ($33 million) to the EU envelope for the Venezuelan crisis in addition to the 120 million euros pledge, mobilized in the course of the conference.

"There were commitments made during these two days that are good news: more or less 120 million euros were announced today as additional contributions from individual delegations, and that comes on top of the additional 30 million euros that the European Union institutions are mobilizing in these days. The European Union has been mobilizing 320 million euros so far and is ready to do more," Mogherini said.

While acknowledging the political roots of the Venezuelan migrant crisis, she stressed that addressing the humanitarian consequences of it is "not only a moral duty, but also an investment in economic sense" as they might grow into something even more costly "politically- and security-wise."

"I know there is a risk of seeing a 'donors' fatigue.' The antidote is sharing more widely our efforts to make our mobilization more sustainable. We do not need to simply add resources, we need to multiply them. The priority is to organize the regional response of the host countries in a coordinated manner," Mogherini said.

The main goal of the solidarity conference was obviously to obtain pledges from donor countries to help recipient countries handle the influx of refugees; yet, it was remarkable to witness the optimism of the recipient countries about the integration of refugees. As put by a UK delegate to the conference, the real problem is not the long-term integration, including on the labor market, but the immediate humanitarian help. "Mosquitoes know no borders," he said, implying that the health crisis which seems to be the priority number one: the access to clean water, the return with a vengeance of diseases that had nearly been eradicated, such as poliomyelitis, diphtheria or malaria, all these in addition to severe food shortages.