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1 1 (April 30, 2021)

handle is hein.crs/govedds0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Researh Service 7% Inforrning the I egisIlav. debate since 1914 0 Updated April 30, 2021 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 Nicolas 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). By the end of 2020, more than 7 million people were estimated to 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. Food insecurity is a significant issue, mainly due to the price of food rather than its lack of availability. Many households do not have reliable access to potable water, and interruptions in electrical service and gas supplies are common. With a collapsed health system, overall health indicators, particularly infant and maternal mortality rates, have worsened. Along with COVID-19, previously eradicated diseases have become a major concern. Fuel shortages, exacerbated by the end of U.S.- licensed oil for diesel swaps in the fall of 2020, have reportedly had an impact on humanitarian aid delivery. Displacement As of April 5, 2021, U.N. agencies estimated more than 5.6 million Venezuelans had fled the country. Roughly 4.7 million (about 85%) of the refugees and migrants were hosted in Latin American and Caribbean countries, with more than 1.7 million Venezuelans in Colombia (see Figure 1). 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 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 of displaced Venezuelans need humanitarian assistance, international protection, and opportunities to regularize their status. 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. In a move welcomed in the region and by the international community, the Colombian government announced an initiative in February 2021 to provide 10-year temporary protection status to Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. With separate global compacts on refugees and migration adopted in 2018, experts urge timely and predictable funding from the international community to support host government efforts to assist Venezuelan refugees and migrants and the communities sheltering them. Figure I. Venezuelan Migrants and Asylum Seekers: Flows to the Region and Beyond UNITE rnostATE - Source: CRS. Since March 21, 2021, fighting between Venezuelan military forces and Colombian non-state armed groups based in Venezuela's Apure State has driven displacement in and around Apure, Venezuela. Increased security concerns and existing COVID-19-related movement restrictions have affected humanitarian access. As of April 14, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Venezuelan Red Cross were the only relief organizations assisting populations in the area. Roughly 5,800 people have fled across the border to Colombia's Arauca Department, where authorities are providing humanitarian assistance and protection to the recently displaced; however, this has raised concerns that cash assistance could provide an incentive for displaced Venezuelans to remain in Colombia. Coronavirus Disease 2019 COVID-19 emerged in Venezuela in mid-March 2020 and added a complicated layer to the country's humanitarian crisis. In general, vulnerable populations often live in

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