– of number of Venezuelans seeking refuge here

AS Venezuela continues to see a decline in its economy, it’s people are on the move by the droves, looking for better living conditions, especially in neighbouring countries like Guyana.
And this, according to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), is reason enough to start a process of accounting for all those who have already made the crossing.
And difficult though it is to measure irregular migration, the IOM will soon begin conducting a three-rounds Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) to determine just how many Venezuelans there are in Guyana, Regional Coordination Officer for the Caribbean, Robert Natiello told the Guyana Chronicle on Monday.
Natiello said there are any number of migrants coming to Guyana, many of them returning Guyanese who migrated with their extended families to Venezuela years ago when the going there was heaps better than it was here.
“We are trying to get a handle on the situation and find out how many are here, what their socioeconomic needs are, and some of the impacts their arrival is having on some of the local communities, especially those along the border areas,” Natiello said, adding that the reason it is so difficult to measure irregular migration is because of the porosity of the border.
He explained that the IOM can very well go to the Ministry of Citizenship and enquire how many Venezuelans got registered here, but then again the border is inordinately long, and only has two official crossings.
According to a Stabroek News report, the island of Ankoko sits on the Cuyuni River, at the “junction” with the Wenamu River. A median line defines the boundary in the Wenamu, and that line therefore divides Ankoko as well, so the western portion of the island belongs to Venezuela and the eastern part to Guyana.
Given the length of the border, Natiello said, it would be difficult for the IOM to get a real handle on the number persons who cross over irregularly.

TRIED AND PROVEN
The proposed DTM method, he said, has been effectively used in at least 60 countries, so it is expected to provide a workable figure.
Said Natiello, “The situation of the outflows from Venezuela has affected a lot countries in the region, including Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and Aruba, which have been affected by outflows in the Caribbean, while countries in South America are also seeing an influx of Venezuelans…”
“For instance, in Brazil and Colombia, we are implementing the DTM; we have already implemented a few rounds,” he said, adding that they intend to start the process in here this month.
Natiello said the DTM exercise is designed to help the Government of Guyana, the United Nations system and other actors develop policies and programmes, and to determine how to allocate resources to assist Venezuelans, returning Guyanese and local receptor communities.
The IOM, he said, has already hired a local consultant to coordinate the process, and they are in the process of hiring enumerators who would go into the fields and speak with key informants such as immigration officers, official health posts, teachers, community leaders, Regional Democratic Council (RDC) chairpersons and even Venezuelans themselves.
Although it has been established that the figure would not be exact, he believes that it would paint a better picture of how many immigrants are in the country. The first round of the DTM is expected to be completed by the end of July.

VERY TAXING
An influx of a migrant population can be very taxing on local infrastructure such as schools, health centres and so forth, hence knowing a figure would allow stakeholders to make critical, economical decisions.

Said Natiello, “So far, the government has been exemplary and shown solidarity with Venezuelans; the government has shown a willingness to support them…
“They said they do not want to just deport them, but instead regularise them, especially because Venezuela had received a lot of Guyanese migrants in the 1980s…
“The government is developing a policy to provide them with temporary permits that are renewable.”

The IOM recognises the rights of a State, especially the sovereignty to determine who enters, how they enter and how long they enter, so the organisation does not get involved in those decisions but provide technical assistance to help the Government to boost those systems.