Venezuela Repatriates 180 Migrants From Iceland (+Vuelta a la Patria)

A total of 180 Venezuelans will return to their home country on a direct flight from the remote country of Iceland, on the edge of the Arctic Circle.

This is a group of people who have taken advantage of a voluntary return initiative, choosing to abandon their attempt to migrate to the Nordic country. The flight leaves Iceland as the country expects a large volcanic eruption to follow thousands of earthquakes that have occurred in the last few days. The authorities have declared a state of emergency and evacuated the populations in the southeast of the island, where the lives of thousands of people are considered at risk.

Thanks to the joint work between the governments of Iceland and Venezuela, this group of migrants will return safely to their country in what constitutes the greatest distance traveled by a flight of the Vuelta a la Patria program launched by the administration of Nicolas Maduro to repatriate vulnerable Venezuelan migrants free of charge.

President Maduro: Migrants Returning from the US Denounce Mistreatment

It is important to emphasize that these are Venezuelans who have taken advantage of a voluntary return initiative, and, consequently, they are not being expelled from Iceland nor will they be included on any lists that limit their mobility in the future.

Venezuela has recently launched a similar program to repatriate migrants from the United States after years of failed US “regime”-change operations designed to oust President Nicolás Maduro. US authorities have announced that since the program has begun, the flow of Venezuelan migrants have been significantly reduced.

Many Venezuelan migrants who moved to South American countries in the past five years have decided to return to Venezuela after facing economic crises, xenophobia, and labor exploitation in their new places of residence. Many have returned to Venezuela, but others have opted to try their luck going to the US because that country provided them facilities to be granted asylum.

Taking into account the complex situation of migrants of Venezuelan nationality as a consequence of the campaign of aggression and sanctions against Venezuela, the spirit of this voluntary return proposal stands out for proposing a respectful approach to the dignity and rights of migrants due to its establishment on a voluntary basis and in coordination with the Venezuelan government. This stands in contrast to the experience of Venezuelans who, in recent years, were deported from Chile, Peru, and Ecuador back to their home country.

(Últimas Noticias) with Orinoco Tribune content

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL