LIMA (Reuters) - Brazil said it was sending armed forces to keep order near the Venezuelan border area, while Peru declared a health emergency, as a regional crisis sparked by thousands of Venezuelans fleeing economic collapse escalated on Tuesday. Earlier this month, more than a thousand homeless Venezuelan immigrants who had flooded over the border into Brazil's northwestern Roraima state were driven back by an angry mob that rampaged through their makeshift tent following rumours a local shopkeeper had been brutally beaten by migrants. Temer has today signed a decree to deploy troops to the border state of Roraima, saying their aim is to keeping order and ensuring the safety of immigrants. In a decree published in the government’s official gazette, Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra declared a 60-day emergency in two provinces on Peru’s northern border, citing “imminent danger” to health and sanitation due to immigration. The decree, published in the government’s official gazette, did not give more details on the risks, but health authorities have previously expressed concerns about the spread of diseases such as measles and malaria from migrants. The exodus of Venezuelans to other South American countries is building towards a “crisis moment” comparable to events involving refugees in the Mediterranean, the United Nations said this week. Temer called on "the international community to adopt diplomatic measures" to halt the Venezuelan exodus, as economic and political crises under President Nicolas Maduro's regime drive hundreds of thousands to leave in hope of finding a better life elsewhere. Speaking about the broader implications of Venezuela's refugee problem, Temer argued that since it has transcended several borders it's no longer an internal issue, but "a threat to the harmony of the whole continent." "It's not just Brazil enduring the consequences, but Peru, Ecuador, Colombia and other Latin American countries," Temer said in a televised address. Top immigration officials from Peru, Colombia and Brazil have been meeting in Colombian capital Bogota for a two day summit to discuss how to cope with the influx of migrants. There are close to one million Venezuelans now living in Colombia and more than 400,000 in Peru, the countries said in a joint statement after the meeting on Tuesday. Just 178,000 of those in Peru have legal permission to stay or are being processed. Colombia and Peru will share information about migrants in a database, in an effort to track arrivals and fairly distribute aid, the two countries said. Maduro has warned migrants they face difficult conditions abroad and invited them to return home. On Tuesday, Venezuela said it had repatriated 89 citizens who had migrated to Peru but sought to return after suffering “humiliation and cruel treatment.”

Oscar Perez, an activist who works with Venezuelan migrants in Peru, said the repatriation was a publicity stunt by the Venezuelan government. An official at Peru’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the repatriation, saying the country was focussed on regional solutions to address the situation. With no end in sight to the Venezuelan economic turmoil, Peru and Ecuador have tightened checks at the border, demanding that migrants have valid passports with them. Colombia has also been impacted by the Venezuelan exodus, with authorities estimating that some 3,000 Venezuelans cross into the country every day either to apply for temporary residence or move further to Ecuador or Peru. On Saturday, the first day Peru imposed its passport rule, the number of Venezuelan migrants entering the country fell by more than half to 1,630, according to Peru’s immigration agency. But hundreds more without passports entered the country by seeking asylum. Foreign ministers from Ecuador and Colombia, and possibly Peru and Brazil, will meet to discuss Venezuelan migration in Ecuador next week, said Christian Kruger, the head of Colombia’s migration agency.
A meeting is held in Lima attended by representatives from Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil, to develop requests for aid in regards to Venezuelan immigrants, which will be sent to organisations including the United Nations and International Red Cross. Yesterday, there was a similar meeting in Bogotá. A larger meeting has been set-up to be held in Quito in early September, to be attended by representatives from 14 countries and 10 international organisations.