Provea received a complaint from Venezuelan returnees in the state of Apure who claim to be spending the mandatory quarantine in overcrowded and noxious Hotel Anarú, in Guasdualito, where deficient food supply and medical care affect 130 adults, 5 pregnant women, and 60 children under lockdown.
Since May 14, hundreds of Venezuelans returning from Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador, have been held against their will in this confinement venue, where minimum humanitarian conditions are not observed. One of them, whose name cannot be disclosed for protection, informed Provea that several diagnostic tests for COVID-19 have been randomly conducted at the site, leaving many untested.
These citizens request to be taken to their places of origin to comply with voluntary quarantine because the prevailing conditions at the Anarú Hotel, where they lack basic services such as drinking water, pose a health hazard to the people confined there and the nearby residents. They affirm to receive little food, sometimes only one meal a day, causing special discomfort among children and pregnant women, the most vulnerable population.
Regarding medical care in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the complainants affirm that medical service is very deficient. They confess that infected people have not been given medication or medical follow-up. This situation worsens with pregnant women, who are not taken to medical check-ups because the health personnel refuses to touch them for “fear of getting infected by the virus”.
The role of the authorities
During their stay at the Anarú Hotel, the mayor of Guasdualito, Jose Chema Romero, has threatened the returnees to accuse them before the Public Ministry for protesting the lack of food, services, and treatment. Romero has called the group a “biological weapon” and vowed to “take them back” to Colombia, a country that allegedly infected them to affect Venezuela.
Unfortunately, due to the precarious conditions at the Anarú Hotel and the pressure of being locked up in such a place, a person recently tried to commit suicide.
Provea urges the authorities to guarantee decent conditions for adults, children, and pregnant women staying at the Anarú Hotel. Besides, they should be allowed to leave for their homes after the days of confinement come to an end, or if they wish to voluntarily quarantine from their homes under better conditions while taking proper preventive measures. These people are not being treated with dignity, which puts their health at risk and deepens the difficult living conditions for which they left Venezuela.
Once again, we are concerned by the multiple reports of situations where returnees are forced to remain in quarantine under poor conditions, where they are treated as prisoners according to the recounts of many other families in shelters across Venezuela.
Translated by: José Rafael Medina.
