'We need help': Venezuela crisis forces many to seek asylum in Canada
Venezuela remains a country on the brink as food and medicine are in short supply, and the economy, hobbled by triple-digit inflation, is in freefall.
People go out of their houses and we don't know if we're coming back.- Asylum claimant
As the political and economic chaos engulfs the country, many Venezuelans are making their way out — as refugees — hoping to call Canada home.
According to the Immigration and Refugee Board, the number of asylum claims from Venezuelans is more than doubling every year — from just 24 in 2013 to hundreds in 2016.
One Venezuelan woman trying to get refugee status in Canada tells The Current's summer host Mike Finnerty why she no longer feels safe to stay in Venezuela.
"People go out of their houses and we don't know if we're coming back," she says.
(The Current has agreed to withhold her name while her refugee application is being processed. She fears reprisals against family members in Venezuela.)
People are dying from the most simple sickness.
"The colectivos are in charge of the street."
Back in Venezuela she says people are desperate for necessities, waiting in long lineups overnight for food with no guarantee they will eat. Many people are losing weight — around eight pounds a month.
"People are dying from the most simple sickness … because they don't have any medicine," she says, adding that elderly people who can't find medicine for hypertension are suffering from heart attacks.
"Kids, they suffer from malnutrition too. There is a lot of cases of kids dying just from anemia."
"We need help," she tells Finnerty, and it is why she feels so strongly about speaking out about the state of her country.
Related: Venezuela's opposition leader released from prison
We need to speak up.
"It's really getting deep into our minds, into our way of being. It's like normalizing not to talk about it."
But she refuses to stay quiet, even though her family worries of repercussions.
"We need to speak up … We need to release all the information because it's 2017. I know there is a lot of horrible stuff happening around the world, but it is just unnecessary Venezuelan people [experience this]."
At the moment, her refugee claim is still being processed, but she is hopeful for a positive outcome.
"I came to Canada six years ago when the Venezuelan situation was so-so … and I know this is a good country to confront this situation," she tells Finnerty.
"My hearing is going to be August 21. My lawyer feels very strongly about my case, so I'm just waiting."
The Current did request an interview with the Venezuelan ambassador to Canada, but have had no reply. We also requested a statement from Canada's Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, and we are waiting for a response.
Listen to the full segment at the top of this web post.
This segment was produced by The Current's Lara O'Brien, Ines Colabrese and Ramraajh Sharvendiran.