Canada Pledges $27M to Venezuelan Refugee Crisis Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
Canada pledged $27 million to help support South American countries affected by the Venezuelan refugee crisis, just as Latin America has become the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic.
On Tuesday, the European Union and Spain, with the support of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM), held an online pledging conference, called the International Donors Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean, to support South American countries including Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia, who have shouldered the burden of the second worst refugee crisis in the world.
These countries have been overwhelmed by the influx of some five million Venezuelan refugees. Their health care and education systems have been especially strained, with the current coronavirus pandemic only exacerbating the situation.
Latin American has has become the new epicenter of the global COVID-19 pandemic, as the region has seen more than 2.4 million cases and more than 143,000 deaths, according to Carissa F. Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO).
UNHCR-IOM Joint Special Representative, Eduardo Stein, commended countries for their support of Venezuelan refugees, saying that “Countries in the region have responded to this unprecedented displacement with remarkable solidarity and hospitality, while facing significant challenges to their own economies and the social fabric of their societies.”
Many countries around the globe have turned inward as they focus on their own fights against COVID-19. But Canadian International Development Minister Karina Gould said that "As the world is grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, we cannot forget about ongoing humanitarian crises. The situation in Venezuela and for over five million Venezuelan refugees and migrants is extremely dire."
More than 40 countries participated in the virtual conference, offering what UN officials called a “ray of hope” for Venezuelan migrants and refugees scattered across the region.