Over 9,000 Venezuelans register for pres Maduro’s repatriation plan

CARACAS: Over 9,000 Venezuelan migrants from around Latin America are registered with the Plan Vuelta a la Patria, the Ministry of Popular Power for Foreign Affairs said.

A total of 9,207 people will return from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Chile, and Panama, the ministry announced from its official Twitter account.

A three- step process, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria ( or the Return Homeland Plan) requires participants to register prior to arrange state- funded transportation and a re-initiation into the Bolivarian social system.

So far, Brazil has seen the greatest exodus of migrants with 6,413 Venezuelans returning home, followed by Ecuador and Peru, both with just over 560 people.

The Return to the Homeland Plan, which Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro introduced on Aug 4, envisages that returning Venezuelans can be reinserted into the life they left with the help of various national social programmes.

On returning home, participants are asked to share their reasons for returning home. According to a survey, 60 per cent returned home due to economic difficulties, 47 per cent were greeted with xenophobia while abroad, and health concerns and unaffordable medical care brought at least 12 per cent back to Venezuelan soil. — Bernama