“Venezuela will always have open arms to receive you,” was the message that President Nicolás Maduro addressed to Venezuelans this Sunday, on the occasion of celebrating International Migrants Day on December 18.
From his account on the social network Twitter, Maduro advocated dignified and more humane treatment of migrants who suffer from any type of discrimination, and confirmed that Venezuela will always keep its arms open to receive them.
“On Migrants Day, we advocate for dignified and more humane treatment of migrants who today suffer discrimination and xenophobia in the world. We say to our sisters and brothers: Venezuela will always have open arms to receive you,” the President published.
Venezuela protects its compatriots abroad
For his part, on the occasion of the date, the Foreign Minister of the Republic, Carlos Faría, greeted and ratified the care policies implemented by Venezuela, providing effective protection to compatriots abroad.
In a message posted on his account on the social network Twitter, Faría stressed that these humanist policies, designed by the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, have allowed the return to the country of Venezuelans who are in a vulnerable condition in other countries.
“Today, International Migrants Day, we salute the care and protection policies implemented by Pdte. @NicolasMaduroin favor of our compatriots abroad, with the development of social programs such as the Plan Lap to the Homeland,” he posted on Twitter.
Return to the Homeland Plan
In this sense, Foreign Minister Faría highlighted the social program developed by the Bolivarian Government called Plan Vuelta a la Patria, which allows the repatriation of Venezuelans who express their desire to return to their country of origin.
For this, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria has the support of the airline Conviasa which, through free flights, returns thousands of compatriots who yearn to return to their country.
The plan return to the homeland is a program created by the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, whose objective is to offer support and encouragement to migrants who voluntarily express their desire to return to Venezuela.
The Bolivarian Government, in response to the situation of vulnerability or economic difficulty suffered by Venezuelan citizens residing abroad, makes a logistical, social, diplomatic and economic effort, to offer a helping hand and a support instrument to all compatriots for their return and reintegration into society.
Likewise, Venezuelans who are abroad have expressed their desire to return to their homeland due to their difficulty in developing professionally, accessing social and health programs. In addition, they are exposed to xenophobia, which is why the Venezuelan State will maintain these measures.
On November 1, the Minister for Transportation, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, indicated that for the months of November and December 12 Conviasa flights would be carried out to return Venezuelans stranded abroad.
To date, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria has returned, since it began, approximately 31,000 Venezuelans from 25 countries; among which Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Italy and Spain stand out.
International Migrants Day
Given the increase in migratory flows in the world, the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization (UN) proclaimed in the year 2000 that every December 18th International Migrants Day be celebrated.
The purpose of the declaration of this day is to highlight the importance of human rights and fundamental freedoms that migrants have, as well as to know the measures that each country implements to guarantee their protection.
