Peru tightens restrictions on fleeing Venezuelans
TUMBES, Peru: Desperate Venezuelan migrants who made it across the border in time were breathing a sigh of relief hours before Peru’s tightened controls came into effect on Saturday, preventing those not carrying passports from entering.
“We have been on the road for
A young Venezuelan migrant watches over her baby at the binational border attention center in Tumbes, northern Peru in the border with Ecuador on August 24, 2018.
35 busloads of migrants were on Verdes, practically on the border those in need of international the move along the route authorities with Ecuador. protection to access safety and seek had opened to Peru. “It’s hard to help more people.” asylum,” UN High Commissioner
“We are going to continue as More than 2,500 migrants for Refugees Filippo Grandi said long as we can,” said the minister, swamped the small crossing on Frion Thursday. whose country is being crossed by The UN said up to 4,000 people tens of thousands of Venezuelans were arriving daily in Ecuador, seeking to join relatives and take Peru, Colombia and Brazil, where up work opportunities in Peru, migrants have been violently Chile and beyond. turned back by locals concerned
Colombia had criticized its two by increasing crime. southern neighbors for implementing Colombia says it has already travel restrictions, warning given temporary residence to it wouldn’t stop migration. 870,000 Venezuelans but it can
Ecuador—where close to half barely cope. It’s the same for Peru, a million people have fled this where earlier this month, a record year alone—heeded the warning 5,100 people entered the country and lifted its week-long requirement in a single day. for Venezuelans to produce Peru’s migration superintendent, a passport, all the while helping Eduardo Sevilla, said that if those migrants reach Peru. Venezuelans continue arriving at
Peru’s citizens largely supported the same rate, there will be “half the move, though, worried about a million by the beginning of the impact that the 400,000 Venezuelans November.” already in the country Many queueing at the border would have. in Peru left Venezuela on foot weeks ago. They’ve already traveled 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles), but those who get through face another 1,200-kilometer journey to the Peruvian capital Lima.
Local churches have been handing out food to the weary and hungry migrants as they wait.
‘It’s hard to help’
“On the one hand, we’re sorry for the Venezuelan people, but they are taking a job away from a Peruvian,” said Giannella Jaramillo, who runs a clothes stall in Aguas
Colombia has pleaded with its southern neighbors to agree to a combined migration strategy, while Ecuador has called a meeting of 13 Latin American countries next month to discuss the crisis.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will set up a special UN team to ensure a coordinated regional response, his spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Venezuelans are rushing out of the oil-rich country to join those
political and economic crisis, as regional governments struggle to cope with one of the biggest exoduses in Latin American history.
Of the 2.3 million Venezuelans living abroad, more than 1.6 mil-
the crisis began in 2015, according to the UN.
The pace of departures has accelerated in recent days, sparking a warning from the UN.
“It remains critical that any new measures continue to allow