By: Staff Writer
May 30, 2023
One of the largest humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere outside of the crisis in Haiti is that of the mass exodus of Venezuelans out of Venezuela to countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. This crisis needs a coordinated approach, particularly for Venezuelans looking to re-start their lives outside of Venezuela and away from the Nicolas Maduro regime.
A recent report from the Migration Policy Institute said that some countries in the region have implemented a substantial approach to Venezuelans that have migrated, including extending Mercosur permits. Two countries in particular, Argentina and Uruguay, extended their Mercosur residence permits to Venezuelans, even though Venezuela was suspended from the agreement, which allowed an almost seamless legal integration process.
Others tried to use existing visa systems (especially Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, and Mexico), although in most countries, these proved not to be sufficiently agile to respond to the number of people arriving and their particularly needs. Two countries, namely, Brazil and Mexico, made extensive use of their asylum systems. And Costa Rica, although less expansive in granting refugee status, has provided work permits to asylum applicants and complementary protection to those whose asylum claims are not approved, thus offering an alternative pathway to legal status.
However the countries closest to Venezuela that received the largest number of Venezuelan arrivals— Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador—ad hoc temporary status measures ended up being particularly important. And in many other countries, such measures have played an important complementary role, especially as the numbers of Venezuelans increased. Brazil and Guyana instituted temporary legal status measures that were accessible to any Venezuelan arriving, while Chile, Curaçao, the Dominican Republic, Panama, and Trinidad and Tobago used ad hoc, time-bound measures to expand the capacity of overburdened visa systems that could not adjust sufficiently to deal with the arrival of displaced Venezuelans.
Granting legal status to Venezuelan migrants seem to be the best way forward for the recipient country and for the migrants themselves. This allows for migrants to have access to healthcare, education and other social services they would not otherwise receive if they remain outside of the system.
As the displacement crisis stretches on, efforts to make good on this bet on legality remain incomplete. An estimated 25 to 50 percent of Venezuelans have never received any form of legal status, and many among the 60 to 75 percent who have done so only have precarious and temporary statuses, making it difficult to integrate fully into their new communities. Many governments have yet to come to terms with how to include all Venezuelans in existing legal status measures and how to transition Venezuelans from temporary to permanent status, even as it becomes evident that most will probably never return to Venezuela.
Full access to health care and education, including higher education, similarly remains an ongoing challenge, though many countries have advanced quite far in laying the foundation for their education and health-care access. And there are many more steps that could be taken to promote Venezuelan’s active integration into receiving countries’ labour markets and financial institutions and the recognition of education credentials earned abroad.
The report also said: “Latin American and Caribbean countries’ response to mass displacement from Venezuela has been both eminently creative and clearly imperfect. Countries have provided most Venezuelans with legal status but left others out; granted broad access to primary and secondary education, but have yet to fully address higher education and credential recognition; and ensured emergency and primary health-care access but not always full inclusion. The details have varied significantly across countries with different degrees of political will, foresight, and capacity. But overall, there is much to recognize in the region’s proactive responses to Venezuelan displacement, even as there is much still to do.”