There are a lot of Venezuelans that are moving out of the country without specifically asking for asylum,” she said. “What we have advised is for countries to take temporary protection measures, even for those that are not asking for asylum.”Certain countries, such as Colombia and Peru, have already extended measures to allow Venezuelans to stay for a time, she said. Yet others, however, lacked laws permitting a temporary protection status, Thompson said. According to a report by the IOM and the Organization for American States presented at the conference on Tuesday, asylum claims from Venezuelans have soared this year in Panama, Costa Rica and Mexico. In Panama, for instance, there were 12,756 applications for refugee status from Venezuelans in the first half of this year—nearly three times the number received for all of 2016.

Source: Manila Times September 14, 2017 05:26 UTC