Brazil, June 30 (EFE) – The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) called this Thursday to strengthen protection mechanisms for Venezuelans who have left their country.
Both organizations participated virtually in the opening of the meeting held in Brazil by the Quito Process, a platform that brings together thirteen Latin American countries that have received millions of Venezuelans in recent years and which serves to share their reception experiences.
IOM Director-General Antonio Vittorino acknowledged the response that Latin America has given to this migration crisis and stressed the “imperative need to consolidate regulation initiatives adopted by the majority of receiving States”.
This regulation, according to Vittorino, “allows for the much-needed socio-economic integration of migrants”, but it must also “be accompanied by long-term programs” to “create greater stability” for those who have been accepted.
The head of the UNHCR, Filippo Grandi, reiterated that the situation resulting from Venezuelan migration in Latin America is “unprecedented in the region”, which has received about five million people from this country in recent years.
“It is encouraging to see that states continue to promote access to their territories, protect rights and also protect health, including vaccination against Covid-19,” he stressed.
Also, Grandi assessed that “access to asylum and temporary protection is guaranteed”, as well as “initiatives aimed at the protection and regulation of migrants”.
Regarding the Quito process, the head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees considered that “it has come together as a platform for important cooperation based on human rights and shared responsibility” and pointed to this mechanism as “a prime example of the implementation of the global agreement on refugees”. , approved by the United Nations in 2018.
The Quito Process was established in 2018 at the initiative of Ecuador as a regional technical working space, with the support of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and IOM, to coordinate the response for the region to the flow of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.
It includes Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Paraguay, Panama, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay.
It also has a group of friends that includes Spain, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, the European Union (EU), Canada, the United States, Great Britain, Italy and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). .
The Brazil meeting will be held behind closed doors and will conclude this Friday, where the actions of states and the Venezuelan migration situation in the region will be presented.
Source: El Diario
