News of the help that together we’re bringing to refugees - 2005 Issue 1

Angelina Jolie asks business leaders to keep backing refugees

Read about Angelina Jolie's efforts to keep refugee issues at the top of the political and international agenda.

Helping hand Maeve Murphy, the UN Refugee Agency Community Services Officer serving in Darfur, Sudan shares the most difficult and rewarding aspects of her job.

Article Index

IDP children in the Mutata area of Uraba

IDP children in the Mutata area of Uraba. © UNHCR/P.Smith

Colombian Refugees Seek Urban Centers in Venezuela

Rising numbers of refugees and asylum seekers are moving to urban Venezuela, citing security concerns and economic difficulties in the border region.While isolated border communities continue to be the first destination of people fleeing the Colombian conflict, UNHCR has noticed a significant increase in the number of individuals who seek protection in bigger cities like Caracas, the capital, and Maracaibo. Officials say 85% percent of refugees registered by the UNHCR in Caracas are victims of the Colombian conflict.

UNHCR in Venezuela frequently receives refugees who are professionals, human rights activists, union leaders or lawyers.These refugees come to the larger cities because they fear that irregular armed groups can easily identify and persecute them in the border regions. Moreover, they often feel there are greater opportunities in Venezuelan cities.

Unfortunately, as one UN official says,‘There is a general belief that work opportunities largely depend on the size of a community – the more people live in a certain area, the more opportunities may appear. Refugees usually think there are more and better facilities in urban areas and it might be easier to advance one’s education with the support of existing government social and education programs.’ Regrettably, simply moving to the cities does not necessarily protect refugees from the discrimination, xenophobia, and unemployment they faced in the rural areas near the border.

UNHCR is working with the non-governmental organization Cáritas de Venezuela to help urban asylum seekers and refugees.Together, the agencies offer legal advice and humanitarian assistance to meet health and emergency shelter needs. Some refugees benefit from income-generating activities supported by micro-credit programs, especially in urban areas where job opportunities are scarce.

Slideshow

Refugee Stories:

Mariana
She will turn 12 this month. At her age, many girls look forward to becoming adults. For Mariana however, adult life has come too soon. Now in a new country, she can finally enjoy being a child again. Since losing her mother three years ago in the Colombian conflict, Mariana has been taking care of her four siblings, cooking and cleaning. Last year, the five children and their father Enrique [not his real name] were resettled from Ecuador to Río Grande Do Norte, in northern Brazil. This year, for the first time since her mother's death, Mariana can look forward to going to school again, learning and playing with children her own age.

Enrique
Enrique can also finally breathe a little easier. A self-taught environmentalist and expert on agriculture, he currently provides professional advice to cooperatives on setting up self-sustaining agricultural projects, from vegetable plots to fish farms. "Now I hope to get a loan to buy a motorcycle. That way I can go more quickly from one cooperative to another," he says. Enrique has also bought the family a home with UNHCR's help. The refugee agency made the first payment, and he will be paying the rest over three years. "Most importantly," he stresses, "I feel secure living with my children in Brazil."

Enrique and his children are among the 75 refugees resettled in Brazil last year, more than triple the number of refugees resettled in the country in 2003. Almost all are Colombians who were in Ecuador and Costa Rica. They settled in Río Grande, Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre in the south where UNHCR and its partners have designed programmes to help them integrate in this new society.

With you, the UN Refugee Agency can pay for further education or training in refugee camps