The United States has resumed deportation flights to Venezuela, sending more than 100 Venezuelan migrants back for the first time since devastating earthquakes struck the country in late June. The restart marks the resumption of repatriation operations that had been temporarily suspended following the disaster.

The aircraft departed from Miami carrying 147 Venezuelan migrants and landed at General José Antonio Anzoátegui International Airport in Barcelona, Anzoátegui state. Authorities used the regional airport because Venezuela's main international airport in Caracas suffered significant damage during the earthquakes.

Venezuelan officials said the returning migrants would reunite with their families and gradually resume their education, employment and daily lives. In recent years, large numbers of Venezuelans have left the country because of prolonged economic hardship and political instability, while changes in US immigration policy have increased deportations.

Deportation flights between the United States and Venezuela resumed earlier this year under a bilateral migration agreement. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the twin earthquakes caused widespread destruction across Venezuela, with economic losses estimated at about 6% of the country's gross domestic product, and recovery efforts are expected to take years.