Spurring RHUs into action at the height of the pandemic in Peru

UNHCR donated five Refugee Housing Units, or RHUs, to help authorities in Huanchaco's northern Peruvian beach town respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The RHUs proved crucial in allowing healthcare workers the additional space they needed to isolate suspected or confirmed COVID cases. Peru’s public healthcare system was already under additional stress as a result of the more than 1.5 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants who have sought safety in the Andean nation in recent years, and the pandemic stretched the system to near the breaking point. ; Long a nation of emigrants, Peru is now playing host to the world’s second-largest population of Venezuelan refugees and migrants after Colombia. Around 1.5 million of the estimated 7.1 million Venezuelans who have left their home over the past five years live in Peru, most of which are in the capital, Lima, and neighboring Callao.
Region: Americas
Country: Peru
Year: 2020
Shelter: RHU
Project size: 51-100
Modality: COVID-19 pandemic relief , Isolation units
Sector: Health
Partner: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
Support: Capacity Building

By the end of 2022, Peru had been host to the second largest population of Venezuelan refugees, after Colombia. Most Venezuelans choose to settle in the larger cities, including the capital Lima, and Callao, due to the strength of their respective economies and livelihood opportunities.

However, the consistent stream of refugee arrivals coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, put stress on Peru’s hosting capacity, and national services, most notably the health care sector. 

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, UNHCR donated 68 RHUs to the Ministry of Health to provide health care workers in strategic locations with additional infrastructure to isolate and treat patients with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 diagnoses. The 68 RHUs have the capacity to treat more than 2,000 additional patients per day.

In October 2022, five RHUs were installed in  the northern Peruvian beach town, Huanchaco.

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