One of the Most Important Humanitarian Gestures of the Last Decade: Welcoming the Venezuelan Population

In addition, South America has been known for its openness on migration issues, acquisition of citizenship, and the non-criminalization of irregular migration. Now, as before, the executive branch has been decisive in these matters, although this does not necessarily lead to the adoption of new laws. Many times, it leads to less robust rules than before where there is a new legislative framework responding to new regional migration dynamics. However, there are two countries that have broken the mold of lukewarm reception. Colombia and Brazil are strengthening protection for the Venezuelan population in international movement.

COLOMBIA

UNHCR has applauded the development of a new policy by Colombia's President Duque regarding the Venezuelan population in national territory, praising it as "one of the most important humanitarian gestures of the last decade." This is taking place at the beginning of 2021 in a context where Colombia has a significant land border of more than 2,000 kilometers with Venezuela; it receives 1.7 million migrants from the neighboring country, half of them with irregular migration status; there is substantial informality and precariousness, with 60% having no income in labor markets. During the pandemic, 80,000 Venezuelans returned to their country in 2020, at least temporarily, and Venezuela does not have a national vaccination program. In short, Colombia's innovative policy contemplates the regularization of a cohort of 800,000 migrants with irregular status by granting a 10-year temporary protection status, including residence. This paves the way for Venezuelan parents with children in the country to register their children as Colombians. It is an extraordinary measure with a positive impact on many lives, although it does not necessarily solve the problem of anti-migrant propaganda or xenophobia. Nor does it govern the status of other immigrant flows such as Haitians or arrivals from outside the continent. Ultimately, it also weakens the figure of asylum as a response to forced migration.

BRAZIL

Unlike other countries in the region, Brazil has developed a policy in recent years recognizing a significant number of Venezuelans as prima facie refugees. Indeed, one must ask why more countries in the region have not done the same, remembering that the region has a tradition of expansive interpretation of the refugee definition, embodied in the Cartagena Declaration (1984), and that certain countries have incorporated into their domestic laws.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

Against this background, it is important to appreciate the significant efforts the Dominican Republic has launched in 2021, although they fall short of the measures approved by Brazil and Colombia in terms of temporal scope. Perhaps, like several other countries, the Dominican Republic had understood that the crisis in Venezuela was going to be resolved and therefore did not need to think beforehand about specific response measures. It should be recalled that recently arrived Venezuelans could not apply for the Regularization Plan (2014/2015), which required arrival in the country before October 2011. In addition, official figures show a surge in the arrival of Venezuelans, with Dominican authorities estimating at the end of 2019 that more than 100,000 people had irregular migration status. There is currently a special plan underway for Venezuelan migration with irregular status, and it is expected that it may positively change their status, although it does not grant residence and is only a one-year permit. It is timely to carry out this program in the current context in order to make these people visible and overcome any hesitation that may exist on the part of the authorities or the migrants themselves with respect to their inclusion in the national COVID-19 vaccination plan.