Multi-agency coordinating committee to address Venezuelan migration

Georgetown, Guyana – (July 16, 2018) Minister of Citizenship, Mr. Winston Felix, earlier today, convened a multi-agency meeting at the Department of Citizenship, aimed at coordinating a response to the migration of Venezuelans into Guyana primarily through Barima-Waini (Region One) and Cuyuni- Mazaruni (Region Seven).

The multi-agency committee includes the Guyana Police Force, the Ministries of Communities, Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Social Protection, Public Health and Citizenship and the Civil Defence Commission (CDC). In an invited comment at the conclusion of the meeting, Minister Felix said that the Ministry of Citizenship will the Venezuelans who arrive and to the best of its abilities and resources, make every effort to provide assistance.

“This meeting is the coordinated effort to give structure to the Government’s response to the arrival of Venezuelans in Guyana. This was an inter-agency meeting and we all discussed our various roles and how those roles will complement the other. I can say for sure that during the course of this week, we will be reinforcing the Immigration Department in Region One to deal with the arrival of Venezuelans into Guyana,” he said.

Minister Felix said that while the Ministries are still trying to finalise the number of Venezuelans, there are approximately 150 at White Water Village, Region One for which the CDC has flown in supplies.

“There is a health post in White Water where the Ministry of Public Health has personnel dealing with vaccinations as they come into the country and so on and the CDC has sent in supplies including cots, pillows, tarpaulins, blankets and food supplies,” the Minister noted.