Voice of America
18 Mar 2023, 06:05 GMT+10
brussels - International donors pledged more than $850 million at a conference in Brussels to help support millions of refugees and migrants who have fled Venezuela, the European Union said on Friday.
The EU and Canada co-hosted the two-day meeting aimed at raising awareness and funds to help tackle what they call one of the world's largest displacement crises.
'Almost 810 million euros [$860 million] have been pledged at the 2023 Solidarity Conference with Venezuelans and their hosts,' European crisis management commissioner Janez Lenarcic said. 'I am encouraged by the renewed commitment of the international community.'
More than 7 million Venezuelans have left their country, propelled by grinding poverty and a political crisis, according to estimates by the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR).
Among the main pledges were $171 million from the United States, $80 million from the EU and $42 million from Canada.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government had accused Canada and the European Union of convening a 'hostile' conference that politicizes migration.
Caracas strongly objected to the International Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants and their Host Countries and Communities, with the foreign ministry calling it a 'spectacle that only serves the commercial interests of some participants."
The UNHCR and International Organization for Migration, which were both involved in the conference, had urged increased international support for Venezuelan refugees and migrants and the Latin American and Caribbean countries that host them.
U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi thanked the EU and Canada for hosting the event. He called the plight of the Venezuelan refugees 'one of many dimensions of human mobility in the Americas that need humanitarian and development responses."
Get a daily dose of Switzerland Times news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Switzerland Times.
More InformationDUBLIN, Ireland: Ireland has been praised for taking the lead with a law that would ban imports from Israeli-occupied territories....
PARIS, France: French military and intelligence officials have accused China of orchestrating a covert campaign to damage the reputation...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
Brussels [Belgium], July 11 (ANI/WAM): EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs will hold a meeting next Monday in Brussels, to be chaired by...
London [UK], July 11 (ANI): Indian pacer Mohammed Siraj paid a tribute to late Liverpool, Portugal footballer Diogo Jota following...
BRUSSELS, 11th July, 2025 (WAM) -- EU Ministers of Foreign Affairs will hold a meeting next Monday in Brussels, to be chaired by Kaja...
ATLANTA, Georgia: The United States is facing its worst measles outbreak in more than three decades, with 1,288 confirmed cases so...
In the past month alone, 23 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza—three more than the number of remaining living hostages held...
LONDON, U.K.: At least 13 people are believed to have taken their own lives as a result of the U.K.'s Post Office scandal, in which...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Travelers at U.S. airports will no longer need to remove their shoes during security screenings, Department of Homeland...
WASHINGTON, D.C.: An elaborate impersonation scheme involving artificial intelligence targeted senior U.S. and foreign officials in...
SLUBICE, Poland: Poland reinstated border controls with Germany and Lithuania on July 7, following Germany's earlier reintroduction...