The migration of people from Venezuela has grown
drastically in recent years, due to the country’s political and socio-economic
situation. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR), to date there are more than 1.5 million displaced Venezuelans in the
region who have settled in countries such as Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Ecuador,
Costa Rica and the United States.[1].
From early 2017 to October 2019 Peru welcomed 860,900 migrants from Venezuela (source: R4V Response for Venezuelans newsletter). They are currently living in Peru, the second largest destination country in the region[2]. As of September 2018, Peru has received more than 150,000 asylum seekers from Venezuela.
The migratory status of many Venezuelan migrants is irregular, and they have no access to food, water, health services, safe housing, identity papers, education or work permits. This leaves migrants vulnerable, and they face labour exploitation, violence, discrimination, xenophobia and crimes such as human trafficking.
Swiss aid
In terms of numbers, Peru is the second largest recipient of Venezuelan migrants after Colombia, and has a greater funding gap than Ecuador. In September 2019, the Swiss government decided to give Peru direct aid through its Humanitarian Aid Programme, with a contribution of US$ 300,000 to the Peruvian office of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), in order to help Peru, meet the growing needs of refugees and migrants, including assistance, protection, socio-economic and cultural integration.
SDC also responded to a request from the Ministry of Health, and through its Humanitarian Aid Program purchased specialized Laboratory equipment to help strengthen the diagnostic capacity of the National Measles and Rubella Reference Laboratory (LRNSR) and the Priority Regional Public Health Laboratories Network (LRR), to ensure the timely detection of suspected measles cases and their contacts among Venezuelan migrants.
The equipment has been purchased and will be delivered to the National Institute of Health before the end of the year, in a ceremony in which the Swiss ambassador will officially hand the donation over to the Ministry of Health.
For further information:
PDF Swiss Humanitarian Aid Newsletter
Web Disaster Risk Reduction Programme and Humanitarian Aid, Lima Hub (Peru)
[1] Superintendencia Nacional de Migraciones, Perú
[2] UNHCR (2018). “Venezuela Situation. Responding to the needs of people displaced from Venezuela”. Supplementary Appeal. Geneva: UNHCR, pp. 5-6. Query: 11 April 2018. Retrieved from: http://reporting.unhcr.org/sites/default/files/UNHCR%20Venezuela%20Situation%202018%20Supplementary%20Appeal.pdf
