More Than 5,000 Venezuelans Find New Homes Across Brazil - UNHCR

More than 5,000 Venezuelan citizens have been resettled from northern Brazil to new homes across the Latin American country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2019) More than 5,000 Venezuelan citizens have been resettled from northern Brazil to new homes across the Latin American country, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said on Friday.

"Over 5,000 Venezuelans have been relocated from Brazil's northern state of Roraima to 17 other states in the country," the statement from the agency said.

Brazil borders Venezuela to the north, and Roraima, which is the least populated state, experiences most of the pressure from the influx of refugees pouring in from the Bolivarian republic.

Brazil has accepted over 200,000 Venezuelans since 2017, according to the figures from UNHCR. About 85,000 of them "lodged asylum claims," while 40,000 have received temporary residence visas, the agency added.

Brazil launched the voluntary relocation scheme back in April 2018 and now the program includes some 50 cities across the country.

The UNHCR plays a key role in coordinating the initiative.

The situation in Venezuela escalated in January of this year when head of the US-backed National Assembly Juan Guaido challenged the presidency of Nicolas Maduro. Guaido then proclaimed himself 'interim president' and was almost immediately supported by numerous Latin American countries as well as many EU states.

Russia, China, Turkey, Cuba and Iran have stood by legitimately-elected Maduro and warned Washington and its allies against "meddling" in Venezuelan affairs.

Venezuela's political and economic crisis prompted some 3.4 million Venezuelan citizens to seek refuge in other countries, data from UN released in February showed.