Govt remains committed to supporting Venezuelan migrants – Todd

The Guyana Government’s policy on offering support for the migrants fleeing hardships and a worsening economic crisis in Venezuela remains intact, where authorities are geared up to provide key services to the vulnerable.
This is according to Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Hugh Todd as he recently chaired a meeting of the Multi-Agency Coordinating Committee to address the influx of migrants from Venezuela into Guyana.

In a statement on Monday, the Ministry shared that the first Committee meeting for the year was attended by the relevant Government stakeholders and international partners who collectively set the agenda in principle for the Committee to continue its work with regard to providing the necessary humanitarian assistance to those migrants, inclusive of returning Guyanese fleeing the economic hardships in Venezuela.
Todd noted that the long-term objective is to integrate them into Guyanese society, but in the meantime, the respective agencies are tasked with combining resources to provide services in key areas such as healthcare, education, labour, sanitation, shelter, food and clothing for the most vulnerable.
Consequently, the Minister tasked the Committee with organising another outreach activity at the earliest possible opportunity, which will be undertaken in Region One as a result of the high concentration of migrants from Venezuela.
Despite the border controversy between Guyana and Venezuela and the case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Government of Guyana has taken a policy decision to offer humanitarian assistance to migrants fleeing from Venezuela.

Venezuelans have been entering Guyana’s territory in droves in recent times, fleeing harsh economic conditions in their homeland in search of betterment here.
Venezuelan migrants seeking refuge in Guyana are being encouraged to present themselves to immigration authorities to get registered in order to benefit from services offered by the Government.
Registration is made easy through the implementation of “roaming immigration officers” who traverse the areas usually populated by migrants and offer registration and extension of stay services remotely. This process is focused on regularisation of these migrants thus preventing or reducing their vulnerability to trafficking, sexual and labour exploitation.
In Guyana, all children of migrants, legal and illegal, from Venezuela and other countries are allowed full access to be enrolled in the public school system within the host communities, and to benefit from Government-funded support programmes including school feeding programmes, school uniform vouchers, and the “Because We Care” cash grants given to all students.
Reports indicate that there are about 40,000 Venezuelan migrants residing in Guyana, with only 21,704 officially documented.