Government announces the relocation of another 1 Venezuelans to other parts of the country.

By Débora Brito - Special correspondent for Agência Brasil

At the end of August, 1.000 Venezuelans sheltered in Roraima – distributed in 10 shelters in Boa Vista and Pacaraima – will be relocated to the interior of the country, announced this Tuesday (21) the acting deputy head of the Civil House, Viviane Ese, who is part of the interministerial group that visits Pacaraima.

Because of its border location, the city has received thousands of Venezuelans since the intensification of the political and economic crisis in Venezuela. Most of the immigrants are living on the streets, and the government wants to accelerate the process of relocating them to other parts of Brazil. Since the beginning of the year, 820 people have already been relocated to different states in Brazil.

According to Viviane, in the next phase of the interiorization program, Venezuelans will leave Roraima on flights scheduled for the end of August and the beginning of September, primarily to the Southern Region. The cities have not yet been announced.

The federal government also announced the construction of a new temporary shelter between the cities of Boa Vista and Pacaraima, in addition to increasing the number of spaces in existing shelters. Construction will begin immediately, according to the representative from the Civil House.

"The intention is for us to carry out border regularization in a humanitarian way. We also have the process of relocation and reception so that we no longer have people on the streets. The president [Michel Temer] announced the strengthening of these actions," said Viviane.

The National Secretary of Public Security, Flávio Basílio, reported that another 60 men from the National Force were sent today (21) to Roraima to support the work of the Federal Police, Federal Highway Police and Army. They left Brasília, with 16 vehicles and a bus. Yesterday (20), the first 60 men from the National Force arrived in Boa Vista, out of a total of 120.

On Tuesday (21), a team with technicians from 11 ministries visited the city of Pacaraima to assess the situation and gather information for the adoption of new measures to help Venezuelan immigrants. They met with representatives of United Nations (UN) agencies that deal with refugees and with social workers who provide assistance to foreigners.

Challenge

One of the organizations that participated in the meetings is the Fraternity - International Humanitarian Federation, responsible for coordinating four shelters for Venezuelans in Boa Vista, and one shelter for indigenous immigrants in Pacaraima.

According to Ricardo Rinaldi, coordinator of emergencies and humanitarian aid at the Fraternity, approximately 500 Venezuelans are still entering Roraima every day, and, according to him, the state no longer has the financial and structural capacity to adequately accommodate all the immigrants who are in line waiting for shelter.

At least 2 Venezuelans are still homeless in Boa Vista. Because it is a state with many indigenous lands, there are also legal and geographical limitations to creating an industrial hub in the region that could employ the new immigrants or building a large shelter that could house 10 people.

“We [government, society] have no experience with this migratory flow. We are all learning in this situation,” said Rinaldi, adding that the focus at this moment is on relocating Venezuelans who already have documents and have been immunized, to free up spaces in shelters. The challenge is to create welcoming conditions in other Brazilian states, not only in the capitals, but also in inland cities.

* Luana Karen from TV NBR contributed to this report.