Sociologist Tomás Páez Bravo, coordinator at the Observatory on the Venezuelan Diaspora, clarified that not all migrants consider themselves refugees.
“The Venezuelan diaspora is very heterogeneous. There are 8.2 million Venezuelans across the world whose conditions vary according to each country,” Mr. Paéz explained.
He cited the case of Brazil and its policy of “open arms”; the same is true for Colombia and Ecuador. On the other hand, the situation is different in Peru, Chile, Mexico and other Central American countries, which poses differentiated challenges for the Venezuelan diaspora and their needs”.
“Peru hosts the largest number of asylum and refugee applications,” he commented while noting that many Venezuelans decided to emigrate without requesting asylum or refugee status.
He added that Peru is home to 1.8 million Venezuelans, 50 percent of whom hold refugee status.
“This is not the case of Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the United States (…) which means that 20 percent of those 8 million Venezuelans across the world are considered refugees.”
Domestic legislation and the Venezuelan Diaspora
Páez Bravo highlighted that many countries are currently implementing different policies [aimed at the Venezuelan diaspora]. “In the past, many countries did not require visas from Venezuela nationals, now they do,” he recalled.
“Colombia has implemented a regularization statute, while the United States, in an attempt to regulate the situation, created a statute that allows 30,000 Venezuelans to request asylum,” he highlighted.
On the other hand, he indicated that there are restrictions in Mexico, Costa Rica and Chile. “I insist, policies vary,” he said.
Translated by José Rafael Medina
