Venezuelan refugees: a dramatic situation
Tuesday 17 November 2020
For several years, and although the situation has not been widely publicised, Venezuela has been enduring a major economic, political and social crisis. Lacking money for food, shelter and health care, and to escape the general insecurity, millions of Venezuelans have left their country. Almost 5 million have fled to neighbouring countries, mainly Colombia.
Paula is one of them. She is 26 years old and lives alone with her 3 children. In Venezuela, she worked in a bakery. But the economic situation deteriorated and she lost her job. Food started to become hard to find, and hospitals were running out of medicines. So she decided to flee to Colombia. That was in 2017. There, she built a small shelter, made of plastic and sheet metal, in which she lives with her children. In order to feed her family, Paula works as a street vendor, illegally.
Like Paula, there are now hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in need of emergency aid! Caritas Luxembourg provides them with food aid, shelter, psychosocial support, but also health care. In the current context of health crisis, these refugees are particularly vulnerable and at high risk of contracting the Coronavirus. Masks, soap and hydro-alcoholic gel are therefore being distributed to them. They are also made aware of the virus and its methods of propagation.
A weekly food parcel costs 40 €.
Mattresses and blankets for a whole family cost 100 €.
People who wish to support the Venezuelan refugees - and more broadly all the activities of Caritas Luxembourg - can do so by making a donation by transfer to the account (CCPL) IBAN LU34 1111 0000 2020 0000 or directly below.
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Your donation is essential to ensure the continuity of Caritas Luxembourg's actions in the service of the poor.
Other donation methodsDonations received by Caritas Luxembourg at the international level are a springboard to obtain co-financing from the Luxembourg Government and the European Union.
Caritas Luxembourg would like to thank the Cooperation Delegation of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg (MAEE), as well as the Directorate for Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection of the European Commission (ECHO) for their support and trust.
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