Colombia Asks OAS For Financial Assistance Over Influx Of Venezuelan Refugees - President

MEXICO CITY (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 14th September, 2018) Colombian President Ivan Duque asked the Organization of American States (OAS) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) for financial assistance over the influx of refugees from the neighboring Venezuela.

In early September, OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro said that the organization began collecting funds to help people fleeing Venezuela.

"I insist that your [OAS] as well as President of Inter-American Development Bank's support will provide us with the financing instruments in order to resolve this issue," Duque said on Thursday after a meeting with Almagro in the city of Cartagena, as quoted by the Nacional media outlet.

Venezuela has been engulfed in a deep economic crisis, with hyperinflation and food shortages. Besides, the country has been facing mass protests. As result, Venezuelans are seeking asylum in other countries, with over 2 million people having left Venezuela since 2014, according to the United Nations. Some 1 million of them remain in Colombia.