#VenezuelaMigra: Regional Concern Over Entry Restrictions Adopted in Peru for Venezuelan Migrants and Refugees

Lima, Santiago, and Washington, D.C., June 11, 2019.- The undersigned organizations, members of the Venezuelan Human Mobility Working Group, express our concern over the decision adopted by the State of Peru on June 6, 2019, requiring Venezuelan nationals to present a "humanitarian visa" in order to enter Peruvian territory. This measure will enter into force on June 15, 2019 at 12:00 a.m.

The migration requirements imposed on Venezuelan migrant and refugee populations, who are forced to leave their country under highly precarious conditions, far from constituting a humanitarian measure, become an insurmountable barrier to entering Peruvian territory for a population in need of international protection. It is public knowledge that the humanitarian situation in Venezuela has worsened, which has led more than 4 million people to leave the country, according to the latest UNHCR figures.

This new restriction has a direct impact on access to the right to seek and receive asylum for people who are forcibly leaving Venezuela, and of particular concern is the processing of the visa itself, or indispensable requirements that must be obtained in Venezuelan territory.

Unfortunately, the type of visa Peru is imposing on Venezuelan nationals is not a new response in the region. Its restrictive character is comparable to the "Democratic Responsibility Visa" imposed by the Chilean State last year, which has provided an insufficient response to the Venezuelan flow moving toward the south of the continent. Although, unlike Chile, the decision announced by the Peruvian Foreign Ministry allows the document to be processed in consulates in Colombia and Ecuador, measures of this kind have proven difficult or impossible for most Venezuelans to access. In the Chilean case, one year after its implementation, less than 30% of total applications had been favorably resolved, and the vast majority entered with tourist visas. However, the requirement imposed by Peru restricts access to the territory for those who do not have a visa obtained at a Peruvian consulate abroad. We call for asylum requests at the border not to be affected.

It should be noted that one week before this measure entered into force, the requirements, costs, and application procedure had not been published on any official portal of the Government of Peru, generating confusion and insecurity among the Venezuelan community residing in Peru who have relatives in Venezuela and among those intending to leave their country.

As human rights organizations that provide assistance to migrants and refugees, we are concerned that there is a growing trend in the region to restrict the human mobility of Venezuelans, who have a clear need for international protection. It is wholly contradictory to denounce the human rights violations taking place in Venezuela while at the same time practically closing borders to that population. Moreover, instead of offering reception and a model of good practices, such actions will increase smuggling networks, irregular border crossings, deaths, human rights violations, and security costs for the Peruvian State.

In accordance with their international commitments, when establishing migration policies and laws States are obliged to respect and guarantee human rights. Any measure they adopt must guarantee, among other things, the right to seek and receive asylum, as well as respect the right to equality and non-discrimination. In this regard, it is important that States, rather than approaching migration through a restrictive lens, heed UNHCR's call requesting receiving countries to allow access to territory and guarantee access to asylum mechanisms, as well as the possibility for States to recognize refugee status for Venezuelans through group determinations.

We call on States to cease using actions that in practice prevent regular entry into their territories for people in need of international protection. We also demand that Venezuelans be fully guaranteed the right to seek and receive asylum or other forms of international protection, including the possibility of requesting such protection at the border. Finally, we request that States reaffirm the commitments deriving from the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, its 1967 Protocol, the expanded refugee definition established in the Cartagena Declaration, the American Convention on Human Rights, and the other applicable instruments in this field.

Signatory organizations that are members of the Venezuelan Human Mobility Working Group (www.movhuve.org)

Accion Solidaria, Venezuela

Alianza Americas

Amnesty International, Regional

Asociacion Civil Movimiento Vinotinto

Asociacion Ministerio Diaconal Paz y Esperanza, Peru

Asylum Access, Regional

Caribe Afirmativo, Colombia

Human Rights Center of the Andres Bello Catholic University (UCAB), Venezuela

Centro de Justicia y Paz (Cepaz), Venezuela

Centre for Migration Observation and Social Development in the Caribbean (OBMICA), Dominican Republic

Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), Regional

Civilis Human Rights, Venezuela

Legal Clinic for Migrants, Alberto Hurtado University, Chile

UDP Legal Clinic for Migrants and Refugees, Chile

Legal Clinic for Migrants, Universidad de los Andes, Colombia

Pedro Arrupe SJ Legal Clinic for Migrants and Refugees, Peru

Argentine Commission for Refugees and Migrants (CAREF), Argentina

Committee of Family Members of Victims of the Events of February and March 1989 (COFAVIC), Venezuela

Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), Colombia

Convite AC, Venezuela

National Human Rights Coordinator, Peru

Coordinator for the Rights of Children and Adolescents (CDIA), Paraguay

Dialogo Diverso, Ecuador

Encuentros Jesuit Service of Solidarity, Peru

Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights, Regional

Scalabrinian Mission, Ecuador

Oxfam, Regional

Prepara Familia, Venezuela

Venezuelan Program for Education-Action in Human Rights (PROVEA), Venezuela

Jesuit Network with Migrants of Latin America and the Caribbean RJM-LAC, Regional

Refugees International, Regional

Jesuit Migrant Service, Chile

Jesuit Refugee Service for Latin America and the Caribbean (JRS LAC), Regional

Jesuit Refugee Service, Ecuador

Jesuit Service for Migrants and Refugees - SJMR Brazil

Sin Fronteras IAP, Mexico

Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), Regional