UNITED NATIONS, April 29 (Xinhua) -- The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said Monday that at least 327,000 children from Venezuela are living as migrants and refugees in Colombia, warning that their health, education, protection and well-being will be in jeopardy without increased support.
According to UNICEF's press release, the economic and political situation in Venezuela has caused an estimated 3.7 million Venezuelans to leave their homes for Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and other countries in the region.
Some 1.2 million of them are in Colombia, often living in vulnerable host communities with already overstretched resources, UNICEF added.
UNICEF Director of Communication Paloma Escudero called on the international community to "step up its support and help meet their basic needs" as "more families make the painful decision to leave their homes in Venezuela every day."
Colombia also offered free education to migrant children from Venezuela. More than 130,000 Venezuelan children are enrolled in schools across Colombia today, up from 30,000 in November last year. Nearly 10,000 of these students are in the border town of Cucuta and close to 3,000 of them commute from Venezuela every day to go to school, said UNICEF.
