Tuesday,
22 July
UN agency welcomes new Venezuelan
commission for refugee assistance
(UN News Service) - The United Nations
refugee agency today lauded the Venezuelan government's
decision to establish a National Commission to
oversee and direct efforts to provide protection,
legal aid and assistance to asylum seekers.
Tomorrow's official inauguration of the National
Commission on Refugees comes almost two years
after the approval of a Venezuelan law calling
for the establishment of such a body, according
to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
"UNHCR sees the move as an important step
forward in refugee protection in Venezuela and
a signal of the government's commitment to its
international obligations under the 1951 Refugee
Convention and 1967 Protocol," an agency
spokesman, Kris Janowski, said in Geneva.
The Commission will also review individual applications
for refugee status, currently totaling 1,474,
with 99 per cent of them being from Colombian
asylum seekers. Mr. Janowski said the establishment
of the commission would "enable these cases
to be evaluated, providing greater protection
and formal status for those in need of international
protection."
