Marisa Smith 

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Policy statement:

 

    Although the Venezuelan refugee crisis has become the most violent refugee crisis across the nation, France believes that the solution should be strictly political and peaceful.

    Since 2010 there has been an ongoing Venezuaelan refugee crisis. This is one of the biggest crises that the UN has ever seen. Over 4 million Venezuaelans have been forced to retrieve asylum in other countries. All of this is a direct result of the Venezuelan government mismanaging and corrupting their economic state. Because of Venezuela’s current economic crisis things such as food, medicine and overall basic necessity have been almost impossible to retrieve. Statistics show that “ 90% of Venezuela's population are living  below the poverty line and half of families are unable to meet basic food needs.” (mercycorps, p ?) The fact of the matter is the residents of Venezuela are human, but are not being treated in such a way. Having to fight for your food and basic needs, is something that no human should have to do anymore. A recent study found that “over 60 percent of Venezuelans said that during the previous three months they had woken up hungry because they did not have enough money to buy food.” (New York Post, 3) The reason so many are fleeing Venezuela is to hopefully find a place where they are able to provide these basic needs for themselves and their families. France believes that we need to start providing more aid to the Venezuelan residents.

  

    France believes one of the most reliable solutions to this crisis is to take Maduro out of office. We firmly believe that the solution to this problem should be strictly political and peaceful. President Macron believes that the election of Maduro was illegitimate and corrupt. President Macron has said “Europe supports the restoration of democracy and welcomes the courage of the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who march for their freedom.” Madour fails to enforce his support for these people and has said “His forces [do] not hesitate to kill.” (ONU ,2)We feel Maduro has failed to not only meet the needs of his people, but also the expectations of him as a president. A truly good leader wouldn’t consider killing his own people, but instead encourage them to have a voice. The people of Venezuela “have massively called for democracy and the possibility to freely determine their own destiny”(France 24, 4)  as France believes “These voices cannot be ignored.” (France 24, 4). At this point it is a question of life or death for thousands of innocent Venezuelans; “Each minute we lose represents lives lost.” (France ONU, 8) France strongly believes we as the UN should start to step up our contributions to Venezulaelan by up to $100 million. Frances has said  “We will pursue our efforts in close cooperation with the relevant United Nations agencies, with full respect for the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.” (France ONU p 7) We believe we should start focusing on meeting the needs of the Venezualens so that they don't feel the need to leave. These innocent people are not being treated as humans, and that fact is very clear.