IOM, UNHCR, partners seek $1.59bn for refugees, migrants from Venezuela and host communities

GENEVA – The Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), co-led by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), announced partners will need at least $1.59 billion to support 3 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela and their host communities in Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024.

In response to the ongoing outflows from Venezuela, governments and communities across the region continue to provide opportunities for refugees and migrants to settle and rebuild their lives through migratory regularization initiatives, access to asylum procedures, labour insertion programmes, and family reunification opportunities. Over 60 per cent of the people who have left Venezuela have regularized their status.

In 2023, the Response Plan provided humanitarian assistance and protection and implemented socio-economic integration programmes for more than 2 million refugees and migrants and members of affected host communities, complementing efforts by host countries or working under regional intergovernmental mechanisms – such as the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection and the Quito Process. This has been made possible by partnerships with development banks, financial institutions and international organizations.

However, 4 million refugees and migrants from Venezuela in the region still have pressing humanitarian, protection and integration needs, according to the R4V´s Regional Refugee and Migrant Needs Analysis (RMNA) 2023. The assessment also revealed that one in three Venezuelans in the region do not have a regular status or the necessary documentation to access decent jobs, health-care services, housing or education.

The funds will support access to asylum procedures, migratory regularization activities and socio-economic integration, so that refugees, migrants and host communities can achieve stability and a brighter future.

“Countries in the region have done an excellent job welcoming refugees and migrants,” said Eduardo Stein, Joint Special Representative of UNHCR and IOM for Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants. “They must continue implementing and improving access to asylum procedures, migratory regularization, and documentation initiatives, but their capacities are stretched thin.”

“A significant, predictable and long-term financial effort is needed to ensure Venezuelans’ access to services, formal employment, health, and education, to effectively integrate and contribute to countries hosting them”.

Hundreds of thousands of people have moved towards Central and North America, crossing Panama’s Darien Jungle, often exposed to severe dangers. These risks are especially serious for women and families with young children. Some return movements have also been observed, including removals and deportations of Venezuelans to their country of origin.

One year after the launch of this biannual response plan, just 20 per cent of the required funds have been received, severely limiting assistance. Amidst multiple crises, the international community must not forget the situation of millions of refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean,    

There are over 7.7 million Venezuelans outside their country. More than 6.5 million reside in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Note to editors

The Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) is implemented within the framework of the Regional Inter-Agency Coordination Platform (R4V) in close coordination with host governments, the primary responders, in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Uruguay.

This year´s updated plan provides a framework for a coordinated operational response for 248 partner organizations involved, including United Nations agencies, international and national non-governmental organizations, civil society, refugee- and migrant-led organizations, the Red Cross Movement, as well as other community-based organizations and academia. Notably, more than a quarter of the RMRP’s appealing organizations (65) are refugee- and migrant-led, underscoring the R4V’s commitment to localization.

Visit this page to learn more about RMRP 2023-2024.

Join the launch event on 6 December 2022 at 9 a.m. (Panama time).

For more information, please contact:

In Panama:

• Gema Cortés, IOM, [email protected], +50762694574
• Luiz Godinho, UNHCR, [email protected], +507 6356 0074

In Geneva:

• Diego Perez Damasco, IOM, [email protected], +41 79 582 7235
• William Spindler, UNHCR, [email protected], +41 79 549 5998