A work of documentation conducted by the Venezuelan NGO Proiuris between April 2021 and March 2023 warned about the acute economic situation faced by Venezuelan families and the persistence of the aspiration to emigrate, mainly to seek better economic conditions, but also to reunite with family members abroad.
The hardships in the cases documented by Proiuris have been exacerbated by the separation of families due to migration, with a special impact on the women who stay in Venezuela and often lack the resources to cover their basic needs, experience difficulties in accessing essential public services, and are faced with the obligation to assume new roles at home to make up for the absence of those who left.
According to unofficial estimates, inflation in Venezuela will close in 2023 at more than 400% while the economy is projected to grow just by 2%, breaking the narrative about the economic recovery of Venezuela and pushing more people to leave the country.
The number of migrants increases each year
Between March 2022 and March 2023, the estimated number of Venezuelan migrants in the world increased by more than 1 million, and the current figures confirm that the causes for migration show no sign of abating.
The Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V) estimates that 7.2 million Venezuelans are outside the country, an increase of more than one million from a year earlier.
This year, the reports processed by the R4V have registered an average increase of 36,000 migrants each month, a figure that could accelerate in the near future.
Proiuris anticipates that the migration flows through Venezuela’s land and sea borders with Colombia, Brazil and the islands of the Caribbean will increase in the coming months. The recent increase in people of Venezuelan nationality crossing through the Darien gap -estimated by Panamanian authorities at more than 40,000 during 2023- is a reflection of a complex crisis that persists in the country, which the Venezuelan state insists on making invisible and denying.
In view of this distressing reality, it must be a priority of the international community to step up efforts to seek support for Venezuelans and host countries to guarantee protection for migrants, promote integration and development projects, and prevent them from falling victim to violence, human trafficking, people smuggling, xenophobia and stigmatization.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
