Geneva – In line with the global theme for International Migrants Day 2018, Migration with Dignity, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) calls on the public to take action and help support vulnerable migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean.
With rising demands of the global migration crisis, IOM is reaching out to sympathetic and motivated allies of migrants to be part of the solution. First of a series of IOM’s call-to-action campaigns, Help us, Help more will share stories of dignity, strength and resilience of migrants on the move, and will encourage individuals to support vulnerable migrants along their journeys through online donations.
There are three million refugees and migrants from Venezuela, of which 2.4 million have left their homes and livelihoods behind, in the last three years, in search of a better future. Traveling by air, road or on foot, on average 5,500 Venezuelans have been leaving the country every day in 2018.
Emily Durán, 39, from Valencia, Venezuela, travelled over 1,700 kilometres to Cali, Colombia, where she was making a temporary stop before heading to the Colombia-Ecuador border town of Ipiales. There IOM spoke to her about her six-week long journey. Her story is one of many thousands:
“There were many difficult times on the way,” she explained. “I walked from Cúcuta to Cali… We had to sleep on the streets and had to keep walking for kilometres. It felt like we would never arrive.”
_Watch the full interview here _
Most of the refugees and migrants from Venezuela have opted to stay in Colombia. Nonetheless, many are like Durán, and are making plans to move onward to Ecuador, Perú, Chile or Argentina. Brazil, México, and select Central American and Caribbean countries also have received Venezuelans. These trends are likely to continue in 2019.
“Some days I wish I hadn’t left my country, just to face even more troubles,” adds Durán about her hardship due to her displacement. IOM missions in the field provide lifesaving assistance to Venezuelan refugees and migrants through distribution of food, medicine, and emergency kits. In some countries IOM works to assist Venezuelans seeking temporary housing, in other countries IOM operates transit shelters. Family reunification and cultural integration of Venezuelans, also part of IOM’s mission, help ease the transition into their new lives.
Host communities and government have been generous with their support. But we need to do more: Help us, Help more.
For more information please contact Deepika Nath at IOM Geneva, Tel: +41766302529, Email: dnath@iom.int