Hossen Sohel: Ministers from a dozen Latin American nations started a two-day meeting in Ecuador yesterday on how they can cooperate to end the massive Venezuelan migrant crisis that has jolted the region, reports AP.
Officials will discuss calls for international funding for overwhelmed public services and whether to impose tighter restrictions to curb migrant flows in the first concerted drive to agree a common policy on the crisis.
The two-day meeting is scheduled to conclude with a joint statement on Tuesday, the host Ecuador said.
“A regional effort will help our countries respond better to these situations, so that we can coordinate efforts and provide humanitarian assistance to people on the move,” Ecuador’s Foreign Minister Jose Valencia told reporters ahead of the talks.
Colombia, Ecuador and Peru have all called for more funding from developed countries to assist their utterly overwhelmed public services.
The three countries have received the bulk of migrants flowing out of Venezuela.
The EU announced a $35 million aid package on Friday to support Venezuelans both at home and in host countries.
Ministers from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay will be present at the Quito meeting, Ecuadoran officials said.
Venezuela and its ally Bolivia have also been invited, but by late Sunday had not signalled they would attend, officials here said.
Hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans are teeming into neighboring countries, fleeing a collapsing economy under President Nicolas Maduro, with falling oil prices and mismanagement leading to shortages of food and medicine.
“It is essential that each country take its share of responsibility,” said Santiago Chavez, Ecuador’s Deputy Minister of Human Mobility.