Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Arequipa (Agenzia Fides) - The Catholic community of Arequipa continues to provide spiritual and material assistance to thousands of families from other countries, mostly Venezuelans, who take refuge in this city in search of better living conditions. The team of the Pastoral Care of Migrants of the Archdiocese, coordinated by Fr. Juan Sebastián Portela and Sister María Angélica Agip, organized several meetings in the housing of Venezuelan families, to prepare them for the sacraments of baptism, confirmation and marriage, while they are integrated into the parish communities. The note sent to Fides by the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP), informs that in parallel to the pastoral work, Caritas Arequipa and organizations such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have made it possible to deliver food, school supplies, kitchen kits, towels and hygiene kit. Through the "Inmaculada Concepción" parish, in Mollendo, food and accommodation were provided to migrants in transit in that port city. For its part, Cáritas Arequipa, in coordination with Cáritas Peru, implemented the EuroPana project for the care and protection of migrants, through which more than 6,000 food packages were distributed. As part of the same program, accommodation and transfer were offered to migrants in transit, psychological support, legal assistance, warm clothing, personal hygiene kits, subsidies to pay rent, etc. Almost 15,000 people have benefited so far. The Peru - Venezuela Integration Center, the San Pablo Catholic University (UCSP) and the German Hanns-Seidel-Stiftung Foundation (HSS) also promote the integration of refugees and migrants in the Arequipa region, providing legal advice, psychological and business assistance, programs to start one’s own business, promoting awareness campaigns against xenophobia, as well as courses, conferences and continuing education programs. The situation of migrants in Peru is different compared to other South American countries. The CEP Commission for Pastoral Human Mobility has just published the first report for the year 2021. According to the document, which collects data from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics and information from the coordination platform for refugees and migrants, so far there are approximately 1,043,460 Venezuelan citizens regularly registered in Peru. To these are added another 500,000 requests for recognition of refugee status submitted to the Special Commission for Refugees of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The report indicates that about 90% of the Venezuelan population in Peru is engaged in economic activities related to informal trade, without a work contract or access to social protection or social security; Unfortunately, most of these activities were not carried out due to the quarantine because of the State of emergency. (CE) (Agenzia Fides, 6/5/2021)
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