Venezuelan refugee crisis

Venezuelan refugee crisis

Part of Crisis in Venezuela
(top to bottom, left to right) Hundreds of Venezuelans waiting to seal their passports in an Ecuadorian customs house; Colombian National Police leading Venezuelans into Cúcuta, Colombia; Airline passengers leaving Venezuela from Maiquetia Airport
Date	1999-2024 (main phase since 2015)
Location	Venezuela
Also known as	Bolivarian diaspora Venezuelan exodus
Cause	Social issues, political repression, crime, economic downturn, corruption, poverty, censorship, unemployment, hyperinflation, shortages, undernutrition, human rights violations and others[1][2][3]
Outcome	7.71 million Venezuelans emigrating[4][5] Refugee crisis in countries neighboring Venezuela Human capital flight 10 countries impose visa requirements and entry restrictions on Venezuelans The United States, Canada, Spain and several Latin American countries start accepting expired Venezuelan passports for entering the country The Colombian government announces that babies born to Venezuelan refugees will be granted citizenship

Crisis in Venezuela
Causes
Bolivarian Revolution Economic policy of Hugo Chávez Economic policy of Nicolás Maduro
Effects
Refugee crisis Blackouts Energy crisis Defections Hyperinflation International sanctions Interventions of political parties Shortages Censorship Catatumbo campaign Xenophobic incidents Pemon conflict
Events
Dakazo La Salida Detention of Antonio Ledezma 2016 recall movement 2017 constitutional crisis| 2018 Nicolás Maduro re-election campaign Presidential crisis 2019 shipping of humanitarian aid to Venezuela Venezuela Aid Live COVID-19 pandemic 2022 recall movement 2023 Unitary Platform presidential primaries
Elections
2013 presidential election 2015 parliamentary election 2017 referendum 2017 Constituent Assembly election 2018 presidential election 2020 parliamentary election 2023 referendum
Protests
2013 2014 2017 2019
Timeline
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Armed violence
Caracas helicopter incident 2017 National Assembly attack Attack on Fort Paramacay El Junquito raid Caracas drone attack 2019 uprising attempt 2020 Barquisimeto shooting Operation Gideon (2020) 2021 Apure clashes 2022 Arauca clashes
Venezuela portal
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The Venezuelan refugee crisis, the largest recorded refugee crisis in the Americas,^[6] refers to the emigration of millions of Venezuelans from their native country during the presidencies of Hugo Chávez and Nicolás Maduro since the Bolivarian Revolution.^[1][2][7] The revolution was an attempt by Chávez and later Maduro to establish a cultural and political hegemony,^[8][9] which culminated in the crisis in Venezuela.^[10] The resulting refugee crisis has been compared to those faced by Cuban exiles, Syrian refugees and those affected by the European migrant crisis.^[11][12] The Bolivarian government has denied any migratory crisis, stating that the United Nations and others are attempting to justify foreign intervention within Venezuela.^[13]

Newsweek described the "Bolivarian diaspora" as "a reversal of fortune on a massive scale", where the "reversal" is a comparison with Venezuela's high immigration rate during the 20th century.^[2] Initially, upper class Venezuelans and scholars emigrated during Chávez's presidency, but middle- and lower-class Venezuelans began to leave as conditions worsened in the country.^[14] It has caused a brain drain that affected the nation, due to the large number of emigrants who are educated or skilled.^[15][16] During the crisis, Venezuelans have often been asked about their desire to leave their native country,^[17] and over 30 percent of those asked in a December 2015 survey said that they planned to permanently leave Venezuela.^[18] The percentage nearly doubled the following September as, according to Datincorp, 57 percent of respondents wanted to leave the country.^[19] By mid-2019, over four million Venezuelans had emigrated since the revolution began in 1999.^[20][21][22]

The United Nations predicted that by the end of 2019, there would have been over 5 million recorded emigrants during the Venezuelan crisis, over 15% of the population.^[23] A late-2018 study by the Brookings Institution suggested that emigration would reach 6 million – approximately 20% of Venezuela's 2017 population – by the end of 2019,^[24] with a mid-2019 poll by Consultares 21 estimating that up to 6 million Venezuelans had fled the country by this point;^[25] estimates going into 2020 suggested that the number of Venezuelan migrants and refugees was overtaking the 6 million figure,^[26] at this time the same number of refugees from the Syrian Civil War, which started years before the recorded Venezuelan crisis and was considered the worst humanitarian disaster in the world at the time.^[26][27] Estimates had risen to 7.1 million by October 2022, over 20 percent of the country's population.^[28]

The Norwegian Refugee Council, the Brookings Institution and the Organization of American States commissioner for the Venezuelan refugee crisis, David Smolansky, have estimated that the crisis is also one of the current most underfunded refugee crisis in modern history.^[29][30][31]

According to updates from R4V^{[note 1]}, approximately 7.71 million people have emigrated from Venezuela in recent years, coinciding with Nicolás Maduro's rise to power and the consolidation of Chavismo.^[4] From May to August of this year, 390,000 Venezuelans have left their country, driven by despair over challenging living conditions, characterized by low wages, rampant inflation, lack of public services, and political repression. However, R4V suggests that these figures could be even higher, as many migrants without regular status are not included in the count.^[4][5] The organization's calculation method is based on asylum requests and refugee registrations in each country, which might exclude those in irregular situations.^[4] Despite the upcoming presidential elections, hope is scarce among Venezuelans. Many fear that through manipulations and frauds, Maduro might "get re-elected" and remain in power for another six years, despite his unpopularity. In this scenario, emigration might continue to be a constant in Venezuela's near future.^[4][5]

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