Human Rights Watch has called for Latin American governments to enhance protection measures, offer legal status, and relax stringent visa requirements for Haitian and Venezuelan migrants facing severe difficulties in South America. The organization's report highlights that millions of these migrants struggle with finding work, accessing healthcare, and receiving education, which forces many to seek asylum in the United States.
According to the research, vulnerable individuals in South America are being driven toward the U.S. border by insufficient integration and regularization efforts. Many of these asylum seekers go via dangerous regions, such as the Darien Gap, which is a dangerous unpaved jungle that separates Panama and Colombia.
Human Rights Watch supports the establishment of a regional protection system that would allow Haitians and Venezuelans to obtain temporary but renewable legal status, even in cases where they do not satisfy local refugee requirements. The purpose of this strategy is to give these populations more stability and assistance.
The research also takes aim at current impediments to migrant integration, like laws that prohibit work permits for asylum seekers. These barriers make it more difficult for migrants to establish themselves in their new nations.
The research claims that governments in Latin America have taken some steps to accommodate migratory workers and asylum seekers. Unfortunately, due to stringent deadlines, intricate processes, onerous documentation requirements, and administrative hold-ups, these efforts have frequently fallen short. Due to capacity issues, asylum systems in nations including Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile are also experiencing major delays.
Panama officials have reported that over 700,000 migrants have crossed the Darien Gap in the past 18 months en route to the U.S., with about 238,000 crossing this year alone. A significant proportion of these migrants are Venezuelans fleeing their country’s ongoing political and economic crisis.
It has been reported by a national immigration body in Panama that 11,000 Haitians had made the dangerous journey across the Darien Gap this year. The United Nations Food Agency reports that, despite the installation of a new provisional administration earlier this year, gangs still control 80% of Port-au-Prince and that many Haitians are suffering from severe food shortages.
It is getting harder for Haitians living in South America to sustain their family since they are having trouble getting official work permits and residency cards. More Haitians are being forced to seek safety in the US as a result of this circumstance.
Venezuelans are similarly struggling to integrate into South American countries, where economic conditions have deteriorated following the pandemic. Many have tried to settle in countries like Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador before deciding to move on to the U.S.
The majority of Venezuelans applying for asylum in the United States, according to research from the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), had already made an effort to settle in South American nations. Sixty-six percent of Venezuelans who crossed the Darien Jungle that July had previously resided in these South American nations, according to a July UNHCR report.
Overall, the Human Rights Watch report underscores the need for improved regional policies and more effective support mechanisms to address the challenges faced by Haitian and Venezuelan migrants in South America.
