VENEZUELA’S deteriorating economy has driven many of its people away and into other countries, especially neighbouring nations like Guyana, where a multi-agency coordinating committee has been resuscitated to address the influx of those migrants.
The committee, co-chaired by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, met on Saturday to revive discussions related to the migrant situation.
Representatives of Government ministries and agencies, and those from United Nations (UN) agencies lauded the resuscitation of this committee.
Together, they examined potential methods of strengthening its capacity, with one being the implementation of coherent policies to prevent uncoordinated and duplicated activities.
The committee also discussed the issue of irregular border crossings and the registration of migrants. Participants also outlined initiatives and ongoing projects to assist migrants.

Among those in attendance at the meeting were Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Ambassador Elizabeth Harper; Director of the ministry’s Bilateral Unit, Ambassador Michael Brotherson; and Director of the Legal Division, Kezia Campbell-Erskine.
They were joined by Regional Coordinator and Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), Robert Natiello; Commissioner for Refugees and Senior Liaison Officer at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Cecilie Saenz Guerrero; Representative of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Nicolas Pron; UNICEF’s Deputy Representative, Irfan Akhtar; United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Liason Officer, Alder Bynoe; Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Consultant on Disaster Preparedness, Tamica Noel, and representatives of other agencies and ministries.

This initiative is important since 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.
It was reported that since 2018, Guyana has seen a drastic increase in the number of immigrants and non-nationals who are victims of trafficking in persons (TIP). The situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which hit Guyana in March 2020.
The increase in cases was due mainly to the influx of migrants, particularly Venezuelans who have been fleeing their Spanish- speaking nation.
In 2018, there were 32 reported cases that yielded some 245 alleged victims, of which 162 were Venezuelans, 49 were Cubans, 10 were from the Dominican Republic, and just 21 were Guyanese.