Take the money for Venezuelans, Charles tells Govt

THE Government should apply for a grant from a fund of hundreds of millions of dollars soon to be offered by the European Union (EU) for countries hosting Venezuelan migrants, Naparima MP Rodney Charles told Newsday on Wednesday.

A recent report by the Associated Press (AP) agency said at a solidarity conference in Brussels, countries pledged US$133 million (about TT$930 million) in aid.

Charles said given TT’s financial state, plus the unknown strain of hosting Venezuelans, the Government must organise to seek such financial support.

He cited the AP report of a two-day meeting held by the EU and the UN, attended by 170 delegates, many pledging money for health care, jobs, documentation and education services beyond basic needs like food and shelter.

Charles noted UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi warned the meeting that without a political solution in Venezuela, the refugee crisis will worsen.

Saying Colombia is hosting 1.4 million migrants amid its 50-million population, he said TT may have 35,000 Venezuelans among its 1.4 million population.

Charles calculated that 2.5 per cent of people in TT are now Venezuelans, similar to the 2.9 per cent of Venezuelans among the Colombian population.

“On a per-capita basis, we are among the highest recipients of Venezuelan migrants. We may even be higher, if accurate data were available.”

Charles urged the Government to compile data to promptly access financial support.

“We need to know how many Venezuelans are in TT. The 16,000 or so who registered fall far short of anecdotal evidence or what citizens are witnessing on the ground.

“We need to know the true cost of hosting Venezuelans. How much is it costing taxpayers for medical support, for providing educational opportunities for their children, for providing jobs and other services? Should we be training our teachers to be bilingual in Spanish?”

Charles said TT needed to know how many migrants are refugees or asylum seekers.

“Ideally we should know the skill sets among Venezuelans residing here so that they can more readily fill jobs available and contribute to our development.”

He said TT cannot operate in a vacuum.

“The UNC has repeatedly called for a comprehensive refugee/migrant policy that is humane, that is data-driven, based on global best practices, that recognises the limits of our absorptive capacity and is in tandem with our international treaty obligations.”

Newsday was unable to contact the Prime Minister National Security Minister Stuart Young or Foreign Affairs Minister Denis Moses for comment.