ReliefWeb

Situation

On 14 August, the Peruvian government extended the state of national emergency until March 2022, mainly to prepare for a potential third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Regional Governor of Tumbes met with the President of the Council of Ministers to discuss the possibility of reopening the northern border with Ecuador. On 28 August, President Pedro Castillo announced that once the vaccination against COVID-19 is finished, the borders of Tacna and Tumbes will be opened to reactivate the economy.

Two new bills were presented in the Peruvian Congress in order to toughen the penalties derived from irregular entries (PL N° 00016/2021-CR), as well as to legislate around the expulsions of foreigners who commit administrative offences or crimes (PL N° 00074/2021-CR).

Regarding regularization mechanisms and access to documentation, on 23 August, the Superintendence of Migration (SNM) reported the issuance of the first 5,700 Temporary Permanence Permit Card-CPP (of the 57,500 CPP processed), as well as 1,240 humanitarian residencies (out of the 14,300 which are being processed).

Response

GTRM partners assisted some 19,600 refugees and migrants with general protection orientations (15,000) and with legal counselling (4,600), as well as 4,100 through case management. Most orientations answered questions raised on how to process the CPP, and how to calculate the penalty fee per day of irregular stay in the country, considering that this penalty (USD 1.1 per day) must be paid to advance with the CPP process.

Some 2,700 persons received psychosocial assistance to address socioemotional needs through group and individual sessions, strengthening the intra-family dialogue and the promotion of wellbeing.

Some 2,600 key actors including community, civil servants and other service providers participated in 80 workshops and trainings on child protection, GBV, human trafficking and smuggling, and on regularization, access to documentation, and others.

Some 740 survivors received specialized assistance. Furthermore, partners assisted over 240 survivors of GBV and their families with Cash Based Interventions (CBI).

Some 50 highly vulnerable refugees and migrants benefited from alternative accommodations in hotels in Arequipa, La Libertad, Lima, and Tacna, and 70 in shelters in Puno. As part of the shelter sectoral response partners continued distributing thermal blankets to cope with the cold temperatures in Arequipa, Puno and Tacna, as well as almost 150 kitchen sets to improve their shelter arrangements.

GTRM partners distributed over 26,600 hot and cold meals to support highly vulnerable refugees and migrants (both residing and in transit), and host community members. These activities are aimed at increasing the nutritional values of this highly vulnerable population in transit (in key entry points such as Madre de Dios, Puno, Tacna, Tumbes), but also residing in peri-urban areas of Lima. In addition, considering those families at risk of food insecurity, nearly 1,400 persons received CBI (USD 45,000) to support access to food. One of the response strategies implemented targets vulnerable families to receive three monthly transfers to cover their food needs for three months.

Partners also assisted some 140 vulnerable persons with humanitarian transport from points of entry such as Puno, Tacna, and Tumbes.

As part of WASH efforts, partners distributed 5,000 hygiene kits to assist persons in transit, including 530 kits for women and adolescents, in Arequipa, Callao, Cusco, Lima, Moquegua, Puno, Tacna, and Tumbes.

As part of the Education sectoral response, GTRM partners supported the Ministry of Education in its efforts to plan the return to semipresential classes, considering that in August more than four thousand schools throughout the country, especially in rural areas, partially returned to the physical classroom. Some 800 vulnerable refugee and migrant students and host community members received school kits to support their permanence in the public education system, and 210 tablets in Arequipa, Piura and Tumbes. GTRM partners facilitated the validation of some 30 professional degrees.

As to Integration efforts, some 160 persons participated in capacitydevelopment trainings on how to access decent work, 1,200 participated in entrepreneurship and self-employment programmes to increase their livelihoods opportunities, and nearly 530 functioning entrepreneurships continue to receive support. Almost 140 refugees and migrants received financial education, and 240 accessed the financial system with the support from GTRM partners, and some 2,300 persons received CBI for livelihoods. Furthermore, as requested by the Intersectoral Working Group for Migration Management (MTIGM), led by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the GTRM started to develop a national strategy for the socioeconomic integration of refugees and migrants that articulates the response and services of the public sector.

GTRM partners provided emergency and primary health assistance to over 4,800 refugees and migrants and host community members, including over 60 persons living with HIV in Lima and Tumbes. Regarding the increasing cases related to mental health among refugees and migrants derived from the COVID-19 impact, GTRM partners continued supporting the Mental Health Working Group, within the framework of the MTIGM. Over 400 persons received mental healthcare, and some 550 persons were supported to access treatment and pay for medical expenses through sectoral CBI (USD 34,000). GTRM partners distributed kits for sexual and reproductive health, including contraceptives for refugees and migrants in transit through Tumbes.