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Add to Preferred SourcesThe International Organization for Migration (IOM) provided food assistance to Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Brazil’s south-eastern region. Most of the Venezuelans who received the aid live in a temporary shelter in the city, part of Brazil’s Relocation Strategy known as Operação Acolhida, which is supported by IOM along with other UN agencies, partners, and civil society organizations.
More than 3.7 million Venezuelans have left their country since 2015, according to the latest information consolidated by the Regional Interagency Coordination Platform. The Brazilian Federal Police estimates that around 150,000 of them are currently living in Brazil.
The relocation strategy has been implemented to support migrants and asylum seekers arriving in the Northern Brazilian state of Roraima, offering better opportunities for integration.
The strategy, carried out since April 2018, integrates four forms of support: labour relocation, family reunification, temporary shelter, and the support of civil society partners that provide accommodation throughout the country. Over the past 12 months, the programme has relocated more than 5,800 Venezuelans from Roraima to 17 Brazilian states.
Supported by the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), both Cáritas Brasileira and IOM implemented food security and temporary housing project in 12 municipalities in Roraima, reaching more than 3,700 vulnerable Venezuelans.
“We are very grateful to count on IOM as a great partner in this mission to ensure the basic right of access to food. Working together strengthens us,” said Deyse Brumatti from Cáritas Brasileira.
São Paulo is one of the places where the strategy is being implemented. Some 800 Venezuelans have benefited, with another 100 more migrants and asylum seekers arriving in the city in coming days. Another programme – Cáritas Brasileira’s Pana Project – also provides social assistance, legal and labour support to the Venezuelans relocating in the city.
Original source: IOM
Published on 24 May 2019