Venezuelan refugees are returning home amid the coronavirus pandemic

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https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/06/americas/coronavirus-venezuela-refugees-intl/index.html


(CNN) — Venezuelans who once fled their homes for neighboring Colombia are now returning to their country.

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But many of the 1.6 million Venezuelans in the country, cannot access help. According to the United Nations Refugee Agency, nearly 60% of Venezuelans in Colombia have not registered with the government and therefore cannot access vital services. Those who work irregular jobs are finding their only income dried up, and some are so desperate that they're picking up their few belongings and beginning the long, arduous trek home by foot.

But Venezuela may be an even more dangerous destination. With the country's health care system in a state of collapse and an economy on a constant downward spiral, local doctors fear Venezuela will be hard-hit by the virus. Lack of water, food, electricity and medical supplies, compounded with skyrocketing inflation and crushing US sanctions have left the country largely unprepared for a contagion. On Monday, Venezuela's Communication Minister Jorge Rodriguez announced 165 cases of Coronavirus and 7 deaths so far on state-run VTV.

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Despite the challenges caused by the virus's spread, Duque promised to continue with the assistance programs already in place to help migrants. But the pandemic has brought local and federal economic havoc to the country, and assistance is also needed by Colombian citizens.

"We can't pay their rent. We aren't paying it for the Colombians, let alone the Venezuelans. I am so sorry that we can't pay that. We already pay for food, births, daycare, schools, we offer employment," Bogotá's mayor Claudia López said Tuesday.