On 17 June 2021, the Parliamentary Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica, took part in the “International Donors’ Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants”. The aim of this online conference was to highlight the humanitarian situation in Latin America triggered by the long-term political crisis in Venezuela.
In her remarks, the Parliamentary Secretary underlined that people in Venezuela deserve a better future. Although the country does have the resources to prosper, the governing regime has set other priorities, and large numbers of Venezuelans have been forced to flee their country. “However, regimes that feed on people’s misery and fears have no future,” Zanda Kalniņa-Lukaševica stressed.
The Parliamentary Secretary also noted that the first step to resolving the political crisis in Venezuela would be to create conditions for a democratic and inclusive electoral process.
Latvia is planning to make a payment of 10,000 euros to the budget of the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Refugees to assist countries that receive refugees and migrants from Venezuela.
The conference was organised by Canada in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Background information
5.6 million people have left Venezuela since 2015, and the majority of them have settled in Latin America. The largest numbers of migrants have been hosted by Colombia, Peru, Chile, and Ecuador. Looking from the beginning of the 21st century, this is the second largest refugee crisis in the world after the Syrian refugee crisis. The challenges encountered by people who have fled Venezuela are usually related to access to health care services, social services, education, employment, and integration.