The international community commits 807 million euros for Venezuelan refugees

The international community has committed this Friday in Brussels 807 million euros in humanitarian aid for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and also in support of the countries, especially neighboring countries, that care for them, as announced by the European Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarcic.

The amount, of which the European Commission will contribute more than 75 million euros - the rest of the money are funds committed by the participating countries individually -, has been known at the end of the third International Conference on Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants, held over two days in Brussels with the declared objective of not lowering our guard in the face of one of the biggest humanitarian crises on the planet.

Spain will contribute more than 20 million euros, while Canada, co-organizer of the event in the Belgian capital, will add another 40 million and the United States up to 160 million euros, reports Efe.

With more than 7 million Venezuelans forced to leave their country, 90% of whom have been welcomed in countries in the region, Venezuela is "one of the largest displacement crises in the world, along with those of Ukraine and Syria." ”, recalled the Canadian Minister for International Development, Harjit Singh Sajjan, co-organizer with the European Commission of the event that brought together ministers and senior officials from the region, as well as international organizations such as the United Nations Agency for Refugees ( UNHCR) or the International Organization for Migration.

Despite this, the Venezuelan crisis is "in the top 10 worst-financed humanitarian crises in the world," said the European commissioner.

For this reason, the meeting, beyond agreeing on much-needed help both for the displaced and for some host countries where the massive arrival of migrants and refugees adds a burden that is sometimes difficult to assume for economies and societies already in tension, sought to demonstrate that "we have not forgotten this persistent crisis," Lenarcic stressed.

"The important thing is to maintain the visibility of this crisis, to show that we have not forgotten the humanitarian needs," he insisted.

Of the aid committed, 496 million will be grants and 311 in the form of loans, Lenarcic explained at the end of the meeting.

The funds will go to help finance projects of "food assistance, health, accommodation, protection, education and legal assistance", among others, according to Brussels.

The distribution of the amounts will be made as assessed in "each individual case," Lenarcic said at a press conference from the Commission's headquarters in the Belgian capital.

Since 2016, the EU has allocated almost 400 million euros in humanitarian aid to the crisis in Venezuela, distributed through the Red Cross and international NGOs both within the South American country and to support displaced migrants and refugees in neighboring countries.

Although the Brussels conference focused on the humanitarian crisis, the specter of political crisis loomed over the entire event.

According to Commissioner Lenarcic, "the only effective solution" goes through a "process led by the Venezuelans themselves," for which he said he "welcomed" the resumption of negotiations between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition in Mexico.

"We also welcome the agreement in principle on humanitarian issues and we hope that this process will continue and achieve a political solution," he told a press conference.

A “very important milestone” in that sense would be, he stressed, “the organization of presidential elections” next year, something that the EU “will follow very closely”, he added.

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