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R4V Flash Update: COVID-19 Update, 9 July 2020

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Colombia
+ 11
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R4V
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Situation

Since the beginning of the year, 1.6 million refugees and migrants and members of host communities were assisted with one or more services by R4V partners, including specifically to address urgent needs linked to the impact COVID-19. In late June, a dashboard was launched by the Regional Platform to monitor the implementation and reach of the Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP). This tool provides a comprehensive analysis of assistance provided to refugees and migrants from Venezuela and host communities by Platform, country, sector and appealing organization, including COVID-19-related activities carried out by R4V partners in the region. It complements the R4V.info webpage’s recent updates to include a dedicated RMRP funding dashboard and a Regional Assessments Registry.

The ongoing return movements of thousands of Venezuelan refugees and migrants to their home country remains of great concern to R4V partners. Since April 2020, due to the increasingly precarious situation of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, resulting primarily from their loss of livelihoods following measures put in place to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, it is estimated by government authorities that more than 70.000 have returned to Venezuela. As many refugees and migrants do not benefit from national social protection, health and social protection programmes, and with the loss of livelihoods to sustain themselves, the desperation has led many to leave their host countries. In addition, evictions have continued taking place despite preventative measures that governments in the region have taken. In light of these developments, the Regional Platform convened a technical workshop with National Platforms, Regional Sectors, the donor community and other key actors, and will develop a response framework to guide partners on addressing questions of return. In this respect, the Regional Platform and its partners highlight that the priority focus of partners and donors needs to remain on supporting the assistance to refugees and migrants in their host communities and thereby avoid additional exposure of vulnerable individuals to health and protection risks associated with return movements.

Platforms’ Response

In Brazil, R4V partners conducted a joint assessment of refugees and migrants who intend to return to Venezuela with a view to understand their demographic profile, their situation in Brazil and the push/pull factors impacting their decision-making process in the context of the COVID-19 emergency. Since 12 June, a group of ten enumerators conducted almost 200 interviews in the border city of Pacaraima. A comprehensive report is expected by end-July. Throughout June, R4V partners continued to support the COVID-19 response by strengthening the capacities of local health systems and providing specialized support to the implementation of the Emergency Contingency Plan of Operação Acolhida.

R4V partners in Chile continued to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees and migrants from Venezuela. In June, R4V partners assisted refugees and migrants with medical care, temporary shelter, and hygiene items, especially given the drop in temperature and the heavy rains which have exacerbated needs. On 16 June, the second meeting of the National Platform took place with the involvement of the coordinators of the Regional Platform. The meeting focused on an update of ongoing work, challenges, and the RMRP 2021 planning process.

In Colombia, the Grupo Interagencial para Flujos Migratorios Mixtos (GIFMM) worked on the second round of the joint needs assessment, which assesses multi-sectorial impacts of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants from Venezuela, as well as their main needs and priorities. The phone-based survey was implemented in 26 departments, reached over 2,500 households and was supported by over 30 partners. The report on its findings is expected to be published in July. In addition, the GIFMM is working on a strategy for monitoring of and response to evictions in the context of COVID-19, led by the Protection and Shelter sectors. The toolkit for preventing and tracking evictions designed in May-June has been shared and adjusted based on feedback received from partners. In June, local GIFMMs supported the government response to COVID-19 in different areas including in the delivery of food kits, provision of psychosocial support, supporting healthcare efforts, enhancing WASH and shelters.

The Grupo de Trabajo para Refugiados y Migrantes (GTRM) in Ecuador prioritized activities to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. Partners of the GTRM provided humanitarian aid such as food, NFI, hygiene products, medicines and health assistance, and cash. In addition, partners prioritized protection and integration activities, including legal mediation to prevent evictions and activities to promote livelihoods and social cohesion with host communities. Prioritized activities also included strengthening government capacities (e.g. training of civil servants and providing equipment), interventions in host communities to strengthen community protection/prevention mechanisms, and capacity building of civil society actors.

In Peru, the GTRM continued preventing and mitigating protection risks amid the COVID-19 emergency with trainings on gender-based violence (GBV), child protection and human trafficking and smuggling. This month, R4V partners conducted consultations to validate a protocol for regional cooperation on the protection of children’s rights in the context of human mobility. The GTRM supported access to birth registration for refugee and migrant parents with babies born during the COVID-19 emergency. In addition, partners continued supporting those in need with food kits and cash. Health partners mapped shelters with confirmed COVID-19 cases among refugees and migrants. R4V partners also coordinated with the Ministry of Health on the elaboration of information material, providing frontline workers with mental health support, distributing protective equipment to personnel in hospitals, providing basic health services and contributing to expand hospital infrastructures during the COVID-19 pandemic.

R4V partners in the Caribbean sub-regional platform increased their responses providing shelter support to Venezuelan families at risk of being evicted, as they have been unable to pay rent due to the economic consequences of the pandemic. Food assistance, CBI, NFI distribution, including hygiene and dignity kits, as well as remote psychosocial and health support continued to be provided to refugees and migrants from Venezuela and the host communities. In June, R4V partners have also re-initiated some in-person service provisions. In Guyana, enhanced containment measures for COVID-19, such as screening, testing and checkpoints were enforced and WASH services including handwashing stations were provided to ensure supplies of clean water to the refugees and migrants from Venezuela and host communities.

In Central America and Mexico, R4V partners are assisting refugees and migrants from Venezuela with food, psychosocial support, counseling and healthcare, among other efforts implemented. In Costa Rica, R4V partners distributed food to nearly 400 refugees and migrants. In Mexico, partners have supported local health efforts by procuring medicine and medical devices and provided accommodation for frontline health workers responding to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, R4V partners in Panama launched a COVID-19 focussed anti-xenophobia campaign (“Detrás de la mascarilla, Todos Somos Lo Mismo”). The campaign consisted of delivering 400 fabric face masks, made by Venezuelans, in different locations in Panama City.

In the Southern Cone, R4V partners provided shelter solutions, NFIs (especially winter clothes), food assistance and cash-based interventions to refugees and migrants in border areas and urban centres. Some of the assistance continues to be limited to remote attention, especially in terms of information-provision or psychosocial support. Messages reinforcing the information on the risks of returning to Venezuela under current conditions were developed jointly with all national partners. In Bolivia, partners monitored the birth registration and documentation of children, as birth registration offices remained closed during the quarantine. In addition, partners provided constant support to authorities in the sub-region for the reinforcement and establishment of emergency health care facilities, including the provision of medical supplies and shelter where refugees and migrants could comply with the self-isolation measures.