The Path Out of Venezuela
Venezuela's economy, political uprisings, and state-sanctioned violence led to the "largest exodus in the region's recent history." COVID-19 lockdowns closed businesses, leaving people without work in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis. Many have been surviving on the equivalent of about $2.60 USD per month. After months of quarantines, some Venezuelans are again fleeing their nation. Colombian officials anticipate roughly 200,000 Venezuelans will cross their border in the coming months.
The dramatic increase in migrants.
Nearly 5 million Venezuelans have fled their country. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), "a significant number of them are in need of international protection." Since 2014, there has been an 8,000% increase in the number of Venezuelans seeking refugee status, making it one of the world's worst displacement crises.
They are vulnerable to traffickers.
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who have fled do not have the legal permissions necessary to stay in nearby countries, making them vulnerable to labor and sex trafficking, along with other forms of exploitation and discrimination.
COVID-19 made migration harder.
Because of continued border closures, which were designed to slow the spread of COVID-19, migrants are using illegal pathways into Colombia along the porous border with Venezuela. The roads along the border are controlled by dangerous rebel groups and narcotics traffickers. Before the pandemic, strangers offered rides, food, and even temporary shelter to Venezuelans traveling to, and through, Colombia. But, fear of the virus has made that level of assistance virtually impossible now.
On UNHCR's page for Venezuela, you can view their latest data on asylum seekers and refugees, along with their annual funding appeals. To try to prevent trafficking and exploitation, they have increased their presence along key borders and in those spaces they provide legal orientations, water, hygiene kits, and cash assistance.
And UNICEF, too.
UNICEF is helping the nearly 2 million displaced Venezuelan children. This year, 215,100 children and women are receiving primary health care in UNICEF-supported facilities. UNICEF is also working to ensure that children (and their host communities) have access to safe drinking water and that migrants have access to violence prevention and interventions.