The U.N. Refugee Agency is urging nations to offer protections to Venezuelans fleeing the country.
The agency made the announcement in an updated guidance note issued Tuesday.
It said 3.7 million people have left Venezuela in the past few years amid the "worsening political, economic, human rights and humanitarian situation" there. By the end of last year, just 460,000 Venezuelans had formally sought asylum.
The U.N. acknowledged that the number of Venezuelans fleeing the country poses "complex challenges" and makes individual determinations of refugee status difficult. The UNHCR called on countries to give Venezuelans access to their territory, give them proper protection and standards of treatment and not deport them, as their lives might be in danger.
