The British government has announced a package of aid to Colombia to help them deal with the massive influx of Venezuelan refugees. This comes in the form of £8 million in loan guarantees at a lower rate of interest through the World Bank. Read the full statement here:
A new UK aid package will help Colombia host over a million Venezuelans forced to flee their homes because of their country’s ongoing economic crisis.
UK aid, through the World Bank, will enable the Government of Colombia to access low interest loans. These will generate growth in sectors with low carbon emissions, give access to jobs and improve essential services such as health and education.
The support will help the Venezuelan migrants and refugees it is currently supporting, and enable Colombia to boost its own economic stability and growth.
This builds on the close bilateral relationship between Colombia and the UK, with Colombia an important partner for trade and stability in the region.
The UK is already one of the largest donors to the Venezuelan economic crisis, providing emergency aid to malnourished children in Venezuela, as well as vaccinations and clean water to its most vulnerable communities.
While reading it the only thing going through my mind is what help would Corbyn offer and what would his response be to this very capitalist offer of cheap loans?
The only answers that came to me was none, he would be spending his time blaming the USA for the problems in the first place. His ideology would blame the solution on offer for causing the problem.
According to the government over a million Venezuelans are now living in Colombia, they add:
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The UK will be the second largest donor to the World Bank’s Global Concessional Financing Fund (GCFF) for Colombia, through an £8 million contribution of UK aid. The UK contribution brings the total donor pool to US $31.5 million, which will unlock US $750 million in low-interest loans.
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Colombia became eligible for accessing the GCFF in January 2019 due to its response to the crisis in Venezuela. The GCFF grants and concessional loans will support the Government of Colombia’s moves to integrate Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
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To date, the GCFF has been used to help Jordan and Lebanon address the influx of Syrian refugees. In two years, the Facility has approved US $500 million in grants, which, due to its leveraging power, has unlocked more than US$2.5 billion in concessional financing for development projects, whose aim is to improve the lives of refugees and their host communities.
