BRUSSELS - More than 60 countries on
Tuesday pledged some $3.4 billion in emergency aid for five
million Venezuelans who have fled the country to neighbouring
South American nations to escape economic collapse under
President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela's unravelling is one of the world's worst
humanitarian crises and has been worsened by the coronavirus
pandemic as healthcare and water supplies are out of reach of
many people.
Despite rising social tensions in Venezuela, thousands of
Venezuelan migrant workers are seeking to return home from
countries ranging from Colombia to Chile as jobs have evaporated
in host countries during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
"The plight of Venezuelan refugees and migrants has worsened
even further," U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo
Grandi told a pledging conference organised by Canada, Spain,
Norway, the European Union and the United Nations, held by
videolink and broadcast on YouTube.
"The impact of Covid-19 is dramatic for countries across
Latin America and the Caribbean and has pushed the Venezuelans
living there into a spiral of poverty and despair," he said.
Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez said there were
$2.79 billion in total contributions by governments and
development banks, and $653 million in donations.
"Venezuelan citizens..., you are not alone," Gonzalez said.
Venezuela, in meltdown despite having the world's largest
proven oil reserves, has 1,177 confirmed cases of Covid-19,
although U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the real number was
surely higher because of a lack of testing, urban overcrowding
and the Maduro regime's harassment of doctors and reporters.
Charities and non-government organisations also cautioned
that emergency Covid-19 support for nations hosting Venezuelans
should not reduce foreign aid schemes for those who are most
vulnerable to the pandemic.
"The response to COVID-19 should not jeopardize the ongoing
humanitarian response," Caritas Europa Humanitarian Director
Silvia Sinibaldi said. "The combination of the two crises
exacerbates the existing vulnerabilities of Venezuelan migrants
and refugees."
Reuters