GENEVA, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and the Director General of the UN Migration Agency William Lacy Swing on Thursday jointly appealed for greater support to receive a growing number of refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

According to the two UN officials, with an estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans living abroad, more than 1.6 million have left the country since 2015, with 90 percent of them going to countries within South America.

Commending nations in the region for generously hosting Venezuelan nationals arriving at their borders, the UN officials also expressed concern over recent developments affecting refugees and migrants from Venezuela.

For example, there were new passport and border entry requirements in Ecuador and Peru, as well as changes to the temporary stay permits for Venezuelans in Peru.

"We recognize the growing challenges associated with the large scale arrival of Venezuelans. It remains critical that any new measures continue to allow those in need of international protection to access safety and seek asylum," stressed Grandi.

"We commend the efforts already made by receiving countries to provide Venezuelans with security, support and assistance. We trust that these demonstrations of solidarity will continue in the future," said Swing.