The mass movement of people fleeing political and economic crises in Venezuela and Nicaragua has transformed the migration landscape in Latin America and the Caribbean
In general, while governments in Latin America and the Caribbean have taken generous and innovative steps to address forced displacement of migrants from Venezuela and, more recently, Nicaragua, the influx has strained the host countries’ public services and caused growing public concern. By December 2019 it was estimated that 4.8 million Venezuelans have emigrated 2019 and moved elsewhere in Latin America or the Caribbean over the past few years, making this the second largest displacement crisis in the world after Syria. Between 80,000 to 100,000 Nicaraguans have fled to Costa Rica amid rising domestic political repression.
A new Migration Policy Institute (“MPI”) report maps the changing policy landscape in 11 regional countries. In An Uneven Welcome: Latin American and Caribbean Responses to Venezuelan and Nicaraguan Migration, MPI President Andrew Selee and Jessica Bolter, an associate policy analyst, examine how governments have generally tried to accommodate the recent arrivals from these two countries. The report accompanies the launch of MPI’s Latin America & Caribbean Migration Portal, the first comprehensive online resource for data, research and analysis on regional immigration policy and migration trends.
This report examines how Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay are responding to the mass outflows. Drawing on extensive fieldwork and interviews with government officials and representatives of non-governmental organisations, migrant-led groups, and international actors, the study analyses efforts to provide newcomers with legal status and to integrate them into schools, healthcare systems, and local labour markets, measures that are important for both migrants and the communities in which they are settling.
Most of the host countries have made efforts to provide basic education, emergency healthcare, and temporary legal status for many of the migrants through the creation of new visa categories and by expanding existing legal pathways. The report includes a range of recommendations and conclusions, some of which are set out below, for both the receiving countries and the international community to ensure the ongoing sustainability of the initial efforts. Some proposals include balancing security and flexibility in entry requirements, strengthening asylum systems and other, more nimble legal pathways, and streamlining credential recognition so migrants’ skills can benefit local communities and economies.
Highlights of the report includes several conclusions about the changing policy context including:
- The relatively low entry requirements most countries in the region have had, especially for Venezuelans, are becoming more stringent. Chile, Ecuador, Peru and Trinidad and Tobago have started requiring visas, which are difficult for most Venezuelans to obtain.
- Countries in the region are prioritising the grant of legal status via different means. Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and, to a much smaller degree, Trinidad and Tobago, have undertaken mass regularisation campaigns for Venezuelans. Brazil has offered temporary residency to any Venezuelan who requests it, and Argentina and Uruguay have provided Venezuelans easy access to Mercosur residency visas, even though Venezuela has been suspended from the bloc. Others, such as Costa Rica, Chile and now Colombia, have experimented with providing legal status based on employment.
- Public education systems are generally open to newcomers but facing widespread capacity challenges. Most countries in the region, except Trinidad and Tobago, make elementary and secondary education available to recent migrants, no matter their legal status. However, registration requirements and school overcrowding present barriers for some seeking to enroll their children.
- Recent migrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela have high labour force participation rates, but most are in the informal economy. In most host countries, these migrants are more likely than the native born to have a professional or technical education, but they face high barriers to getting their educational credentials recognised. As a result, many are unable to secure work that matches their skills.
Overall, host countries in Latin American and the Caribbean have shown an openness and even creativity towards providing some form of legal status to the migrants and their families including access to basic education and the provision of emergency healthcare to most. However as the exodus continues unabated and it becomes clear that large numbers of Venezuelans are likely to remain in their host countries in the mid- to long-term, the initially warm welcome has begun to cool in places. Capacity constraints on many education and healthcare systems which existed prior to the arrival of large numbers of newcomers have also become more pronounced. Governments in smaller territories are beginning to erect barriers to entry and struggle with the challenge of integrating large numbers of new arrivals into local communities. Host countries will need the support of the international community to implement new strategies and successfully meet these challenges.
