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1 1 (September 02, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdbqe0001 and id is 1 raw text is: &~ ~ riE SE .$rCh &~ ~ ~ Updated September 2, 2020 The Venezuela Regional Humanitarian Crisis and COVID-19 The deteriorating humanitarian situation in Venezuela has elevated congressional concerns about the country, which remains in a deep crisis under the authoritarian rule of President Nicolfs Maduro. Even before the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, Venezuelans were facing a lack of food, medicine and health, and access to social services. Political persecution, hyperinflation, loss of income, and oppressive poverty also contributed to a dire situation. According to household surveys, the percentage of Venezuelans living in poverty increased from 48.4% in 2014 to 96% in 2019 (80% in extreme poverty). Millions require humanitarian assistance, with pregnant and nursing women, those with chronic illnesses, indigenous people, migrants, children under five, and people with disabilities particularly in need. In February 2020, the U.N. World Food Program (WFP) released an assessment showing that in 2019, 9.3 million Venezuelans were food insecure, with 2.3 million people at severe levels. Many Venezuelans reported that the price of food presented more of an obstacle than the availability of food. Many households did not have reliable access to potable water and reported interruptions in electrical service and gas supplies. With a collapsed health system, overall health indicators, particularly infant and maternal mortality rates, worsened. Previously eradicated diseases such as diphtheria and measles also became a major concern. As of August 2020, U.N. agencies estimated that more than 5.1 million Venezuelans had fled the country. Roughly 4.3 million (about 85%) of the refugees and migrants were hosted in Latin American and Caribbean countries (see Table 1), with more than 40% in Colombia. While responses to the Venezuelan arrivals have varied by country and continue to evolve with events on the ground, the displacement crisis has affected the entire region, as neighboring countries, particularly Colombia, strain to absorb arrivals often malnourished and in poor health. Although the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) does not consider most Venezuelans to be refugees, it asserts that a significant number need humanitarian assistance, international protection, and opportunities to regularize their status. Border closures, quarantine orders, and other limitations on movement in place due to COVID-19 may affect displacement numbers. Venezuela's exodus has become an unprecedented displacement crisis for the Western Hemisphere, which has in place some of the highest protection standards in the world for displaced and vulnerable persons. The countries in the region have been under pressure to examine their respective migration and asylum policies and to address, as a region, the legal status of Venezuelans who have fled their country. More than 2.5 million Venezuelans in neighboring countries lack identification documents, making them vulnerable to exploitation. With separate global compacts on refugees and migration adopted in 2018, experts urge timely and predictable funding from the international community to support efforts by host governments to assist Venezuelan refugees and migrants and the communities sheltering them. Figure I. Venezuelan Migrants and Asylum Seekers: Flows to the Region and Beyond Source: CRS. COVID-19 emerged in Venezuela in mid-March 2020 and added a complicated layer to the country's humanitarian crisis. In general, vulnerable, displaced populations live in conditions that make them particularly susceptible to COVID-19 and present significant challenges to response and containment. The Pan American Health Organization and the U.N. Children's Fund have led the international COVID-19 response in Venezuela, prioritizing capacity- building support for hospitals as well as health, water, and sanitation interventions for vulnerable populations. In neighboring countries, UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and their partners have sought to address the immediate public health needs of refugees and migrants, as well as the displaced prompted by the virus, while trying to reduce the spread and conduct information and awareness campaigns. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . \ .. - . gog a - , gn'a', goo 'S

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