Nation Ready to Help Colombian Refugees
Venezuela is ready to receive as many as 9,000 refugees from neighboring Colombia if fighting there among government troops, guerrillas and paramilitaries triggers an exodus of civilians across the border, a refugee official said.
Ricardo Rincon, head of Venezuela’s National Refugee Commission, said Venezuelan authorities would carefully screen all refugees to ensure they were not outlawed fighters or wanted drug traffickers or criminals.
The government commission was created in August to deal with refugees fleeing across the 1,400-mile western border with Colombia.
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