Ecuador Weighs New Humanitarian Visas for Venezuelans – Reports

BUENOS AIRES (Sputnik) - Ecuador will consider special humanitarian visas for Venezuelans that would grant them permanent residence, local media reported, citing President Lenin Moreno.

An amendment to the existing visa rules will be submitted to the parliament, El Commercio newspaper said on Thursday.

The so-called exceptional humanitarian visas, Moreno said, will serve to "regularise temporary residence to make it permanent for Venezuelans who are already in the country and have not broken laws."

Half of a million Venezuelan migrants will be living in the neighbouring Andean nation by the end of this year, according to United Nations’ estimates. Moreno said its capacity had been stretched to the limit.

Venezuela has been struggling with the economic crisis due to a global slump in oil prices. Lenín Moreno, the president of Ecuador, has said last year that his country takes in about 6,000 Venezuelan migrants per day.