Boa Vista – IOM, the UN Migration Agency, is supporting the Government of Brazil to relocate about 300 Venezuelan migrants from the State of Roraima, which borders Venezuela, to other cities in Brazil.

The relocation, which began this week (04/04) and is also supported by other UN Agencies, is part of the Brazilian Government’s strategy to manage migrant flows from Venezuela, which have overwhelmed Roraima’s capital city of Boa Vista and the city of Pacaraima, on the border with Venezuela. The main aim is to help ease the pressure through the voluntary relocation of migrants to other cities across Brazil.

The first group of 104 Venezuelan migrants flew out of the city of Boa Vista, on Wednesday (04/04) aboard Brazilian Air Force airplanes, destined for São Paulo. An additional group of 168 are expected to leave today (06/04) to Cuiabá, in Mato Grosso State.

IOM is supporting the pre-departure and identification process, monitoring the movement and assisting the migrants upon arrival at their destination.

The Venezuelan migrants will stay in public shelters, and will be supported by local authorities and civil society organisations to facilitate their integration, including support to access, the labour market, health services as well as education and other rights.

“Our role in this operation is supporting the Brazilian Government to respond to the migrant flows from Venezuela in the State of Roraima,” said IOM Brazil Chief of Mission Stéphane Rostiaux.

“We are implementing the Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) in the cities of Boa Vista and Pacaraima in Roraima which captures key information to provide a better understanding of the flows and the evolving needs of Venezuelan nationals in Roraima,” Rostiaux explained.

He added: “We have also been supporting the Brazilian Government in activities related to Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) and provided direct assistance to Venezuelan migrants as well as income generation and labour market inclusion of the Warao indigenous people.”

IOM is also supporting civil society organizations in Roraima assisting vulnerable migrants through the Global Action Against Trafficking and Smuggling of Migrants (GloACT).

According to the latest IOM report on Venezuela, there has been an increase of Venezuelan citizens entering Brazil through Roraima State in the past two years. The report estimates approximately 35,000 Venezuelans in Brazil in 2017.    

Besides its office in Brasilia, IOM opened a field office in Boa Vista in August 2017 to support the Brazilian authorities and civil society in the management of the Venezuelan flows.

For more information please contact Fabiana Paranhos at IOM Brazil, Tel: +55 61 3038 9014, Email: fparanhos@iom.int