Many European and international actors agreed to strengthen their support for displaced Venezuelans and neighbouring host countries in an attempt to alleviate the humanitarian and political crisis in Latin America during a solidarity conference on the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis held on Monday 28 and Tuesday 29 October in Brussels.
The meeting, chaired by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini, the Director General of the International Organisation for Migration, António Vitorino, and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, was attended by 120 delegations. European institutions and Member States, Latin American and Caribbean countries, private sector and civil society actors, international financial institutions, NGOs and United Nations agencies were represented.
This was the first time since the beginning of the Venezuelan crisis in 2016 that the international community had gathered outside the American continent to assist Venezuelans and neighbouring countries affected by the crisis. More than 4.5 million people have already fled Venezuela, including 1.5 million who have found refuge in Colombia, more than 800,000 in Peru and more than 300,000 in Ecuador.
In a joint statement, Federica Mogherini, António Vitorino and Filippo Grandi stressed that the aim of this event was first and foremost to "raise global awareness about the Venezuelan refugee and migrant crisis and the efforts of hosting countries and communities". For her part, the High Representative of the Union said she wanted this crisis "to go back on top of the international agenda".
120 million euros in donations. The main goal of the event was not to raise funds. However, it has mobilised an additional €120 million in aid to provide financial support to national authorities in countries hosting refugees.
That comes on top of the additional 30 million euros that European Union institutions are mobilising in these days", Ms Mogherini told the press. She also recalled that the European institutions and Member States had already raised €320 million since 2016 and are ready to do more.
Of the total amount, €15 million has been pledged by Spain (over 3 years), €5.5 million by Germany, €2.5 million by Italy and €1 million by Ireland. The United Kingdom reaffirmed its previously announced aid of £30 million. The United States announced an additional $10 million in assistance.
"We feel a sense of urgency. The sooner we mobilise resources, the more effective our assistance will be to countries hosting refugees", said the High Representative.
Political solution. Ms Mogherini also stressed the importance of finding a political solution to the crisis. "We must look at the root cause of the problem", said Filippo Grandi.
The same is true on the American side. The Venezuelan crisis is "the only crisis in the world that does not result from a war", Carrie Filipetti, head of Venezuela and Cuba in the US State Department, told a few journalists on the sidelines of the conference. For her, the Brussels conference also reaffirmed the need for a comprehensive political solution. According to Washington, this requires support for the self-proclaimed president, Juan Guaído, in order to hold new presidential elections.
"But all options are on the table", Filipetti said, echoing the American political line which, unlike the European position, does not exclude from the outset any military intervention aimed at bringing down the ‘Maduro’ regime.
Asylum. The three co-chairs of the Brussels Conference also stressed the importance of maintaining access to asylum, strengthening mechanisms for identifying persons in need of international protection, maintaining flexible entry conditions in the various countries, continuing to regularise and provide residence permits for Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and facilitating family reunification.
While Venezuelans are now the third largest category of the population to seek asylum in the EU, the US authorities have not been able to provide figures on the number of asylum applications made to national authorities. "We ensure that people seeking protection receive this protection in the countries that host them", said Carol T. O'Connell, head of asylum and migration at the U.S. State Department.
Federica Mogherini announced the creation of a 'group of friends of the Quito Process', a multilateral initiative of Latin American countries to harmonise their policies on receiving Venezuelan refugees. This group will meet in the coming months, under the auspices of the European Union. A further meeting of the Quito Process will take place in a the coming weeks in Bogotá.
By December 2020, the number of displaced Venezuelans could reach 6.5 million. (Original version in French by Agathe Cherki, intern with Mathieu Bion)