In the aftermath of the arrival in the northwest of hundreds of Venezuelans fleeing hardship in their country, the Ministry of Public Health wants a long-term strategy to handle medical services to them.
This was disclosed in a Ministry of the Presidency press release on Monday which provided an update on the work of the National Multi-Sectoral Coordinating Committee which has been managing the influx of Venezuelan migrants and making provisions accordingly.
According to the release, Minister of Citizenship, Winston Felix said that “Once the Venezuelans are arriving, we will continue to work…hadn’t it been for a forum like this (the coordinating committee) the information we received would have been isolated. When it is brought here, we are better able to make decisions on how best to address the issues…this Committee is central to coordinating and monitoring the activities of the Venezuelan migrants. As long as they (migrants) are coming, this Committee has a job to do.”
Over the past several months, amid many challenges, particularly as it relates to the country’s porous borders, the release said that the committee has worked to streamline the arrival of migrants; ensuring that they are properly documented and immunised in keeping with the legal requirements. This task, according to the Public Health Ministry, has placed an additional burden on an already taxed health sector to provide additional services at the level of primary health care delivery as well as in hospital settings. The release said that the Ministry is now calling for the development of policy guidelines to address migration population and a long-term strategy to transform the current response into routine service delivery.
Meanwhile, the release said that data collected by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) through its Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) revealed that employment opportunities and/or income generating activities top the list of needs of the migrants. This is followed by assistance for documentation.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is working closely with the Immigration Department to improve efficiency in terms of registration. To this end, the UNHCR has purchased a number of pieces of equipment including biometric scanning devices, scanners and laptops to aid immigration officers at the various ports, the release said.
Similarly, organisations such as the Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) continue to lend technical and financial assistance to enhance the capacities of various public agencies to deal with issues pertaining to migrants. The Committee will resume its fortnightly meetings on January 7, 2019.
In July this year, Felix had said plans were in motion for the establishment of a homestead settlement area for 260 confirmed Venezuelans who were then occupying areas in Barima-Waini (Region One).
Felix had said that the resettlement area would allow the Venezuelans to be self-reliant “It is intended that we [will] develop something like a homestead where families are accumulated and eventually we can move them into cash crop farming. We can encourage that so that in the first instance they can feed themselves and if they have surpluses they can sell. We are looking at crops for their sustenance and their immediate needs. Once you get that…going then the next thing is to guide them into areas in which they can sustain themselves. The immediate outcome is that we want to see them properly settled and they must be able to sustain themselves…,” he said.
This homestead plan had been criticised on a number of grounds and later appeared to have been shelved.
