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Venezuelan migrant children play soccer in a camp run by the UN refugee agency UNHCR in Maicao, Colombia.

Luisa Gonzalez / Reuters

TORONTO, March 17 (Reuters) - The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration will temporarily suspend refugee resettlement departures because of new air travel and border restrictions, a UNHCR spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

“As countries drastically reduce entry into their territories, and restrictions around international air travel are introduced, refugee resettlement is being subject to disruptions,” said Melanie Gallant, spokeswoman for the UNHCR in Canada. “To respond to this new reality, UNHCR and IOM will be temporarily postponing refugee resettlement departures.”

(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto)

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