Ecuador tightens entry requirements as Venezuelan migration

17/8/2018 6:36

        Ecuador on Thursday said that all
        foreigners entering the country would need a passport from
        Saturday, an apparent attempt to curb rising numbers of
        Venezuelan migrants fleeing their homeland.
        
        Members of the Andean Community - which includes Venezuela
        and Ecuador - have an existing agreement that allow citizens to
        cross borders between member countries with only their national
        ID cards. That has been a significant advantage for Venezuelan
        migrants, who struggle to obtain passports amid chronic
        shortages.
        
        "As of this Saturday the government will require that anyone
        entering Ecuador present his or her passport," said Interior
        Minister Mauro Toscanini on Thursday.
        
        He did not specify if the measure was aimed at Venezuelan
        migration but added that Ecuador wants Venezuela to make efforts
        so "that its citizens do not need to go through the very
        difficult situation of having to leave their country." The
        ministry declined further comment.
        
        Venezuelan migrants have been taking days-long bus rides
        across South America, often crossing Ecuador on their way south
        to Peru or Chile, because they cannot afford flights on a
        minimum wage that adds up to a few U.S. dollars a month.
        
        Quito declared a state of emergency in three provinces this
        month after a spike in Venezuelan migrants crossing the
        Ecuadorean-Colombian border high in the Andean mountains.
        Authorities said up to 4,500 Venezuelans were crossing daily,
        compared with around 500 to 1,000 previously.
        
        Ecuador's President Lenin Moreno is left-wing like his
        Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, but he has distanced
        himself from Caracas since taking office last year. The
        migration wave has also soured public opinion towards Venezuela
        in the country of some 16 million.
        
        The Ecuadorean government does not provide data on the total
        number of Venezuelans living in the country, but an official at
        the Foreign Ministry told local radio that some 600,000
        Venezuelans had entered the country so far this year, with
        around 109,000 staying on.
        
        Venezuelans begging or selling knickknacks are now a common
        sight in Quito. And as in much of Latin America, some locals
        fret that desperate Venezuelans are undercutting the job market.