Venezuela refugee crisis to become far worse, surge to 6.5 million, U.N.-EU conference told

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https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/10/29/world/social-issues-world/venezuela-refugee-crisis-become-far-worse-surge-6-5-million-u-n-eu-conference-told/#.XdQDpU2oupo

BRUSSELS – The refugee wave in Latin America sparked by Venezuela’s implosion will get worse next year, aggravating a regional crisis, a U.N. representative on the issue told a Brussels conference Monday.

“The challenges for 2020 will be even greater than those faced in 2019,” Eduardo Stein, the special representative for the U.N.’s refugee and migration agencies, told the event co-hosted with the European Commission.

“For the coming year we project the total number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to pass from 4.5 million to 6.5 million,” he said, warning that neighboring countries were already struggling to host the arrivals.

The “unprecedented” situation as Venezuelan migrants and refugees flee their collapsing economy is generating “increasing levels of xenophobia” in the Latin American countries taking them in, he said, noting tightened entry requirements by some governments.