EU, Spain To Co-Chair Donor Conference To Support Venezuelan Refugees On May 26 - Borrell

BRUSSELS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2020) The European Union and Spain will co-chair a donor-pledging conference on May 26 to raise funds for Venezuelan refugees and the Latin American countries that are currently supporting them, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Friday.

"I have also informed my colleague ministers that the European Union together with Spain will co-chair a donor pledging video conference for the Venezuela displacement crisis on May 26. The conference will support Venezuela's neighbors who are receiving unprecedented levels of refugees, amounting to five-and-a-half million people. The crisis has been aggravated further by the coronavirus and this pledging conference is very timely," Borrell said.

According to a press release published after Borrell spoke, the donor conference has been supported by the UN Refugee Agency and the International Organisation for Migration.

"The international community cannot remain aloof from the drama of the Venezuelan exodus. It is necessary to act without further delay," Spanish Foreign Minister Arancha Gonzalez Laya said in the press release.

The event will follow in the wake of a Venezuela solidarity conference held in Brussels in October. The UN Refugee Agency has already called on the international community to provide urgent support to Venezuelan refugees.