Govt, stakeholders discuss Venezuelans influx

Nov 11, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – Guyana on Wednesday held discussion with key stakeholders on the influx of Venezuelan migrants to Guyana.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hugh Todd convened the meeting of the Multi-agency Coordinating Committee. According to a Press Release from the Ministry present at the meeting were key stakeholders, the relevant government agencies, and international partners such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The meeting received reports from the agencies on the ongoing efforts that are being undertaken to address the situation of the migrants from Venezuela.

Scores of Venezuelan migrants were last year found in Guyana in poor health and undernourished

Todd at the meeting underscored the importance of data gathering and information sharing among the agencies to allow for a coordinated approach to address the issues faced by the migrants in Guyana. He reminded the meeting that such collaboration will greatly assist in the maximization of the resources available to the Committee to carry out its functions.

Government of Guyana late last year had expressed concern about the influx of Venezuelan migrants at Port of Kaituma- a local border community to Venezuela. Last year reports surfaced where dozens of Amerindians including children who entered Guyanese territory from a neighbouring village in Venezuela were found in poor health and without food.

The Government had said then that it remains mindful of its humanitarian obligations to migrants and has been actively engaged in sustained efforts to deliver food and medical relief across the regions where migration into Guyana is taking place. “Further, the Government remains committed to the humane management of the migrant situation stemming from the economic and social instability in neighbouring Venezuela, with the active support of local stakeholders and our international partners.”

Guyana and Venezuela share a porous border stretching over 789 km, with two formal border-posts along the route. Venezuelans and returning Guyanese fleeing the economic hardship in Caracas with their families are crossing back into Guyana at random points, often without going through formal registration. Guyana is described as a destination country, with mainly families settling in communities in Regions 1, 2 and 7, and adults travelling alone to the urban centres such as Georgetown and Bartica. There have been 13,246 official migrant entries from April 2018- December 2019 (of which 30 per cent are children) but this figure is officially recognized as less than actual numbers. Based on UN estimates the forecast was to see 31,000 new migrants entering Guyana by the end of 2020 which represents an additional 4% of Guyana’s total population of 750,000, with these migrants mainly settling in border hinterland areas. Once registered, the official position of the Government is that migrants are entitled to have access to services such as health care and education.

Registration points and settlement locations for migrants are mainly in the indigenous border Regions 1, 7 and the peri-urban areas of Regions 2 and 3 of Guyana. Through national surveys that measure social and physical wellbeing, these areas have the poorest socio-economic data, with Region 1 having the greatest number of the communities hosting migrants, identified as the worst Region nationally for social, health and well- being indicators for children. Nationally, health, education and socioeconomic indicators for the host communities in these border and peri-urban areas are at the bottommost when compared with other areas in Guyana. Women and girl children especially are at significant risk of Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Sexual Exploitation and Abuse (SEA) as the places that migrants have been settling in tend to be the gold mining areas where these risks and threats are already prevalent. Also with limited employment options available in these areas, female migrants are more vulnerable especially if they don’t speak English.

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