Every day there are more frequent stories of friends and relatives who have come to the country from Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Spain, the United States, among others.
An example of this is the unusual movement of people that occurs every day at the Tulcán land terminal, the capital of Carchi, on the northern border of Ecuador.
The reason: it is about hundreds of Venezuelans who leave Ecuador to return to their country, reported the media ecuavisa.
Every minute buses arrive from Huaquillas, the southern border with Peru, full of Venezuelans.
Those who work and live near the Ecuadorian transportation station say that between 500 and 600 foreigners leave Ecuadorian territory every day.
From other countries in the region
The Ecuavisa report shows how other Venezuelans arrive at the Tulcán terminal from Chile, Peru and other provinces of Ecuador.
“Here things are not good. I come from Guayaquil and crime is very strong,” said Reynaldo Mendoza.
It is estimated that in the coming months the return of Venezuelans to the country will increase significantly due to the Christmas festivities.
Low enrollment of Venezuelan students in Ecuador
The almost 50% drop in the enrollment of Venezuelan students in the Ecuadorian educational system is a reflection of this reality.
According to the Ecuadorian Ministry of Education, 29.092 Venezuelan students left the schools and colleges of that country for this 2022-2023 school year, the media reported. First fruits from Ecuador.
In this educational period, 31.054 Venezuelan children and adolescents were enrolled, representing 48% less than the 2021-2022 school year when the enrollment of Venezuelan students was 60.146.
However, since last year the decline of Venezuelan schoolchildren in Ecuador was evident, as reported by The Trade.
Reymar Cáceres, for example, returned to the country in August 2021 because his income was not enough to support his family and as soon as his three daughters, ages 13, 10 and 5, finished their school year in Ecuador, they bought tickets and returned to Caracas.
The undersecretary for Educational Innovation of Ecuador, Diana Castellanos, says that the main reason for this reduction is that: "there is a process of return of the Venezuelan community in all the countries of the region."
Daniel Regalado, president of the Venezuelan Civil Association in Ecuador, agrees that the return of Venezuelans to the country is the main cause for a smaller number of students.
From Peru to Guarico
This was the case of María, a young 30-year-old Venezuelan mother who emigrated in 2017 with her husband and two daughters, aged two years and two months, with the intention of settling in a province on the Peruvian coast.
The experience in Peru for this couple did not turn out as expected. “I'm not complaining about Peru, I left many friends there and I thank you for your help, but it was difficult for me to adapt to the culture and I wanted my daughters to grow up in better environments next to my family. There I felt very alone and without support,” María told Últimas Noticias.
Maria returned by land last September just for the start of the new school year.
Her daughters are already studying at a school in her native Calabozo, Guárico state, and she assures that they are delighted in the house of their grandparents, who during these five years did not stop missing them and communicate by video calls every day.
According to figures from the Peruvian Ombudsman, between the months of March and May 2020, 31.000 Venezuelan migrants in Peru returned to Venezuela, since the covid-19 crisis caused 89% of those dismissed in the Venezuelan community and caused the 39% were at risk of being evicted from the houses they rented.
On social media, comments from Venezuelans who have returned to their homeland and express their feelings:
“Today marks a week since I left. The best experience without a doubt”, “I have been back in my country for a year and the truth is that I have lived the happiest year of my life”, “I was unable to get used to it”, “I honestly never felt at home”, “I saw my family again and that is priceless”, are some of the comments that can be read in the posts on this topic.
From Argentina
The return of Venezuelans to the country is not new. The pandemic in many cases accelerated the process, because the sources of work were increasingly limited and the income was not enough to cover the expenses.
In February of this year media such as The Trade from Peru made reference to a work by El Clarín on the return of Venezuelans from Argentina, on average about a thousand per month.
El Clarín spoke with more than 70 passengers who wanted to travel and arrive in Venezuela as soon as possible and at least 30 of them indicated that they did not intend to return to Argentina.
“We are grateful to Argentina, which opened its doors for us, it is a beautiful country, but the economic situation, inflation and the rapid increase in the dollar made our reality unsustainable. We began to stop paying Directv, we were left with only one phone, we owed services and there it became clear to us that there was nothing else to do, "said Antonio Vidal.
Tour of the Homeland Plan
In December of last year, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria brought 187 Venezuelans from the Ezeiza International Airport in Buenos Aires after facing some type of discrimination or violation of their fundamental rights in the South American country.
In October 2021, 200 Venezuelans returned from Chile, who were repatriated through the Plan Vuelta a la Patria days after they suffered acts of xenophobia in the city of Iquique, located in the extreme north of that South American country.
this year from Ecuador 97 Venezuelans returned on a flight of the Plan Vuelta a la Patria commanded by the Venezuelan airline Conviasa.
“I am happy to return. My family is waiting for me there. Thanks to the Bolivarian Government for allowing me to return,” said one of the Venezuelan passengers from Ecuador before boarding the plane.
Last May, 264 compatriots arrived in the country in a new day of the Plan Vuelta a la Patria to total 8.220 Venezuelans repatriated from Peru.
Since its inception on August 27, 2018, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria has supported the return of 29.124 Venezuelans from 22 countries on 167 flights and one sea transfer.
Even during the covid-19 pandemic, the Plan Vuelta a la Patria returned 11.352 compatriots safely, said the People's Power Minister for Foreign Relations, Carlos Faría, last August on the anniversary of the Bolivarian government's program. .
On that occasion, the Foreign Minister explained that the coercive, unilateral and illegal measures have a serious impact on Conviasa's operations, since they prevent the state airline from having access to updating mechanisms, acquisition of spare parts and pilot training, obstacles that make it difficult to maintain the plan. operative.
Human Rights Violation
The Special Commission of the National Assembly (AN) that investigates Crimes against Venezuelan Migrants abroad until April of this year counted a total of more than 2.761 complaints violation of human rights to nationals residing in several countries in the region.
The president of the aforementioned Commission, deputy Julio Chavez, has reported that the figures of Venezuelans abroad do not reach values above 3.7 million in Latin America and that these statistics will begin to drop with the return of Venezuelans through the Plan Vuelta a la Patria, which ensures that only in Peru there is a list of more than 42 thousand Venezuelans waiting to return.
