UNHCR to call for international support to help Brazil with Venezuelans

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said this Monday (Feb 19) he committed, in a meeting with President Michel Temer, to garnering support from the international community to help Brazil provide an answer to the situation facing Venezuelan immigrants in the country. Grandi and Temer met at the Alvorada presidential palace early in the afternoon.

“We talked to President Temer about this answer, which is fully supported by the UNHCR both in terms of humanitarian assistance and in terms of a long-term solution for a program relocating [Venezuelans] to the countryside,” Grandi told the press at the Itamaraty Palace, head of Brazil's Foreign Ministry.

“We hope Venezuela's situation stabilizes soon. We estimate that some 24 thousand Venezuelans have applied for refuge in Brazil. This figure does not represent the total number of Venezuelans [who entered Brazil],” he added.

Grandi came to Brazil to attend a meeting with representatives from 36 countries in Brasília to last until this Tuesday (20) to discuss the situation of refugees in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to Foreign Minister Aloysio Nunes, the event aims to provide room for ideas regarding the protection of refugees under the Global Compact on Refugees, currently under debate at the UN and expected to be adopted as part of the General Assembly in September this year.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira