OAS: Number Of Venezuelan Migrants Could Double To Eight Million

Venezuelan migrants get on military trucks to get a free ride from the Ecuadorian-Peruvian border service to Tumbes, after processing their documents, on the outskirts of Tumbes, Peru June 15, 2019. Picture taken June 15, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

Reuters: Number of Venezuelan migrants could double to eight million: OAS

BOGOTA (Reuters) - Some 5,000 Venezuelans leave their country each day, the Organization of American States (OAS) said in a report on Friday, and the number of migrants from the oil-producing country could double to 8 million by the end of 2020.

Venezuela’s deep economic and political crisis has dominated the agenda at an OAS assembly taking place this week in Medellin, Colombia. Uruguay walked out of the session on Thursday in protest of the recognition of a delegation from Venezuela’s opposition.

The United Nations has estimated the number of Venezuelan migrants abroad is currently 4 million.

“This is the biggest migrant flow in the history of the region, currently the second-largest in the world - beaten by Syria, which has been at war for more than eight years,” report coordinator David Smolansky said during Friday’s assembly.

Some 1.3 million Venezuelans are currently living in Colombia, which has borne the brunt of the exodus. Some 850,000 migrants have settled in Peru and 263,000 in Ecuador.

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WNU Editor:  Eight million is probably the low number.