Violent deaths of Venezuelans living in Ecuador were increased from 19 to 124 in 3 years

Gregory Araque, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, and his friends were to arrive at the Historic Center in Quito.

The migration was defined and the journey from their country to Ecuador took five days.

Violent deaths of Venezuelans living in Ecuador were increased from 19 to 124 in 3 years

Two hours after arriving in the city, the depression he suffered prevented him from conquering his goal: on the Zámbiza bridge, in the north of the Ecuadorian capital, he took his own life by dropping into a vacuum.

It was August 28, 2019. He is one of the 124 migrants who adds to the statistics of violent deaths that are increasing in the country. While in 2017 there were 19 cases, 2018 recorded 34 deaths under different aggressive circumstances.

In 2019 this number doubled to 71. Fredy Herrera, technical coordinator of the National Service of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, indicates that the main causes of deaths are on par with the deaths of Ecuadorians: traffic accidents are at the head, secondly the deaths by knife and suicides, especially hanging.

In the flow monitoring of the Venezuelan population (UN 2019) it is stated that almost 64% of Venezuelan migrants did not have enough resources to make their trip.

Upon arriving in the host country, neither the money to survive. Faced with this, what happens if the death of a relative is added to another’s territory? Daniel Regalado, president of the Venezuelan Civil Association in Ecuador, explained that when a Venezuelan dies the first option of his relatives is to repatriate him.

But the idea is in illusion. “It is very expensive for a person who hardly comes with few resources.

So what we do is guide them for cremation that has a much more agile permit at the Consulate of Venezuela, ”he said. The repatriation process of a body can cost a minimum of $ 8,000.

Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/judicial/12/muertes-violentas-venezolanos-ecuador