UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomes Brazil's decision to recognize thousands of Venezuelan asylum seekers as refugees, his spokesman said Monday.

"I can say that the secretary-general welcomes and thanks Brazil for this decision," Stephane Dujarric, the spokesman, told reporters. "As a former High Commissioner for Refugees, he knows full well the important impact that this will have on those Venezuelans, not least by increasing protection and access to vital services."

Guterres had served as head of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, for 10 years before he became secretary-general.

Brazil's National Committee for Refugees on Thursday recognized some 21,000 Venezuelans in the country as refugees and decided that asylum claims from Venezuelans who fulfill the necessary criteria in Brazil will be processed through an accelerated procedure, without the need for an interview.

The UN Refugee Agency immediately hailed Brazil's move as "a milestone in refugee protection in the region."

The Brazilian authorities estimate that some 224,000 Venezuelans are currently living in Brazil. On average, 500 Venezuelans continue to cross into Brazil every day, mostly into the northern and isolated state of Roraima, according to the UNHCR.

To date, over 750,000 asylum claims have been filed by Venezuelans worldwide, the majority in Latin American countries and the Caribbean, it said. Enditem

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