Venezuelan Refugees: A Call for Help from the International Community

By Jennifer Churay

I.  Introduction

The concepts of “refugees” and the “refugee crisis” are not recent developments.[1] For instance, both World Wars led to the displacement of millions of people.[2] In the 1970s, the civil war in Colombia caused many people to leave and seek refuge in Venezuela.[3] In 2011, the Syrian refugee crisis began, which some called “the world’s worst humanitarian crisis since World War II.”[4] Years of conflict in South Sudan have also caused many refugees to leave.[5] Today, refugees around the world continue to flee hardships in their home countries.[6] In fact, “[t]oday, one out of every 110 people in the world is displaced.”[7] Venezuela is an example of a more recent refugee crisis occurring.[8] The difference between the Venezuelan crisis and other refugee crises is that the Venezuela crisis was not caused by war or other conflicts.[9] Moreover, the Venezuelan crisis does not receive global attention — despite its scale and severity.[10]

By the end of 2020, 5.3 million refugees had fled Venezuela.[11] That is similar in scale to the Syrian refugee crisis, but the Venezuelan crisis has not received nearly as much funding.[12] This leaves millions of Venezuelans suffering without stable food supplies, reliable infrastructure, or access to medical treatment, among other hardships.[13] The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has stated that “[h]umanitarian assistance, as well as increased support for socio-economic inclusion, need to be urgently scaled-up to complement government efforts and ensure communities continue to accept refugees and migrants in a safe and welcoming environment.”[14] This statement further demonstrates the severity of the situation and the need for additional assistance. To provide meaningful assistance to Venezuelans affected by this crisis, countries should place the Venezuelan crisis on a global scale, rather than labeling the situation as a regional issue, and modify their immigration and refugee laws to provide greater assistance to those in need.

Countries should provide this assistance to Venezuelans for two reasons: (1) humanitarian and (2) political. Humanitarian assistance is needed because, without a global response, conditions for Venezuelan refugees will worsen as regional host countries become increasingly unable or unwilling to provide aid.[15] Conditions in Venezuela are so severe that human rights violations may ensue because access to life-sustaining resources and immigration protections guaranteed by international human rights agreements are not being delivered.[16]

Politically, the conditions in Venezuela pose a threat to democracy because of government corruption in Venezuela and attacks on the Venezuelan citizenry.[17] The world has an interest in protecting democracy in Venezuela because a democratic government has been shown to be the best defense against human rights violations.[18] One hundred and ninety three countries are signatories of the Convention of Human Rights; thus, they are obligated by international law to defend Venezuelans’ human rights.[19]

Many people forced to leave Venezuela are unable to get assistance because they do not qualify as a refugee. Courtesy UNICEF Ecuador.

II. Sources of Refugee Law

The two guiding sources of international refugee law are the 1951 Refugee Convention (“1951 Convention”) and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (“1967 Protocol”), which the UNHCR created and enforces. [20] To qualify as a refugee, according to the UNHCR, that person must satisfy the following definition:

Anyone with a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.[21]

Many countries have adopted similar definitions in their immigration laws.[22]

However, such a limited definition can be problematic. Many people forced to leave their home countries are unable to get assistance because they do not qualify as a refugee under this definition.[23] For example, this definition does not include “economic migrants” fleeing economic collapse in their home countries, migrants fleeing corrupt governments, or migrants forced out because of natural disasters caused by climate change.[24] Accordingly, many people fleeing Venezuela do not qualify as refugees under this definition because many are considered “economic migrants” or fleeing a corrupt government.[25]

Another source of international refugee law relevant to the Venezuelan crisis is the Cartagena Declaration.[26] The Cartagena Declaration is a regional agreement between Latin American Countries that defines the term “refugee” and outlines the responsibilities of participating countries to protect refugees.[27] Most importantly, the Cartagena Declaration adopts the UNHCR definition of refugee and extends refugee status to “persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety[,] or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violation of human rights[,] or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.”[28] This Declaration allows significantly more people fleeing dangerous conditions to qualify as refugees and receive assistance because it does not limit refugee status to those at risk of particularized persecution solely based on one of the five grounds listed above. Therefore, this definition likely includes additional Venezuelans who have fled to the various host countries because their current economic and political conditions have threatened their safety and freedom.[29]

Refugee status is necessary and beneficial because it is a protected right under the UN Declaration of Human Rights. Courtesy National Police of Colombia.

III. How Should the World Help Venezuelans?

Refugee laws should be amended to provide additional help to Venezuelans. These suggestions are made, however, with the knowledge that not all countries will provide the same level of assistance, depending on the resources available in each country.

Although the Venezuelan crisis is on target to displace the largest number of people when compared to similar crises, affected Venezuelans receive less assistance from the international community than other refugees, such as Syrians and South Sudanese.[30] It is simply not enough to ask the world to give more money.[31] Redefined refugee status should ensure that Venezuelan refugees can receive essential government benefits like work authorizations, educational opportunities, and healthcare.[32] Countries without certain resources or lack hosting capabilities should provide other forms of assistance to Venezuelan refugees that are more attainable.

Refugee status is necessary and beneficial because it is a protected right under the UN Declaration of Human Rights and it allows those fleeing to seek refuge away from conflicts without fear of deportation back to those dangerous conditions.[33] Most countries either use (1) a restricted definition of “refugee” that reflects the UNHCR definition;[34] (2) use a broader definition of “refugee” that reflects the definition used in the Cartagena Declaration;[35] or (3) other countries have adopted a hybrid definition.[36]

The best definition of “refugee” combines the UNHCR definition with the Cartagena Declaration definition because it provides protection to the largest number of people. This hybrid definition provides protection specifically to two groups of people: (1) people with a fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, and other social or political affiliations, and (2) people who have fled “because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generali[z]ed violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights[,] or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.”[37]

In many cases, Venezuelans will not fit into the first category because most Venezuelans flee from economic and political turmoil, unsafe living conditions, and violence.[38] Nevertheless, it remains important for countries to include that first category of refugees in their immigration laws because there are still people who flee their countries out of fear of persecution based on those five grounds.

The second category in the hybrid definition of “refugee” is likely a better fit for Venezuelans fleeing their home country.[39] For example, government corruption and attacks on political opponents threaten Venezuelans’ freedom and safety due to “internal conflicts” and the inability to participate in legitimate democratic elections.[40] Additionally, a lack of life-sustaining resources like food, water, and utilities place Venezuelans’ safety at risk.[41] If those challenges are not sufficient for Venezuelans to obtain refugee status, Venezuelans could also claim that they are the victims of “massive human rights violations” under the second category of refugees in the proposed hybrid definition.[42] Thus, countries around the world should adopt the proposed hybrid definition of “refugee” to allow Venezuelans to receive refugee status protections.

IV. Conclusion

Millions of Venezuelans are forced to leave their homes because conditions in Venezuela create health and safety risks.[43] The rest of the world should raise the Venezuelan crisis to a global scale and modify immigration laws to provide greater assistance to those in need. In addition to granting refugee status, countries must allow refugees to avail themselves of benefits like work authorization, healthcare, and education. These benefits will enable Venezuelans to integrate within their host countries and become economically and socially independent.[44] Without this level of global concern, conditions for Venezuelan refugees will worsen as regional host countries become increasingly unable or unwilling to offer aid.[45]

[1] Peter Gatrell, The Question of Refugees: Past and Present, Origins: Current Events in Hist. Persp. (Apr.2017), https://origins.osu.edu/article/question-refugees-past-and-present/page/0/1; See also, Stephen H. Legomsky & David B. Thronson, Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy, 1140 (Saul Levmore et al. eds., 7th ed. 2018).

[2] Gatrell, supra note 1; See also, Lydia DePillis, Kuwant Saluja, and Denise Lu, A Visual Guide to 75 Years of Major Refugee Crises Around the World, Wash. Post (Dec. 21, 2015), https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/historical-migrant-crisis/.

[3] Hanna Dreier, Colombians Who Fled Violence Stunned by Venezuela’s Anti-Immigrant Crackdown, U.S News (Aug. 27, 2015, 10:44 PM), https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2015/08/27/venezuelan-crackdown-worries-once-welcomed-colombia-migrants.

[4] A Timeline of the Syrian Civil War and Refugee Crisis, UNICEF (Mar. 15, 2020), https://www.unicef.ie/stories/timeline-syrian-war-refugee-crisis/.

[5] South Sudan Profile- Timeline, BBC (Aug. 6, 2018), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14019202.

[6] See, Lydia DePillis, Kuwant Saluja, and Denise Lu, A Visual Guide to 75 Years of Major Refugee Crises Around the World, Wash. Post (Dec. 21, 2015), https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/world/historical-migrant-crisis/.

[7] Legomsky & Thronson, supra note 1, at 1133. This note was written prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and the statistics mentioned in this note may not account for the number of refugees displaced by that conflict. Between February 24th and March 9th, 2022, more than two million Ukrainian refugees have fled the country, putting Ukraine on track to be the “fastest-growing refugee crisis in Europe since World War Two.” How Many Refugees Have Fled Ukraine and Where are They Going?, BBC (Mar. 9, 2022), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60555472.

[8] Megan Specia, What is Happening in Venezuela and Why it Matters, N.Y. Times (Apr. 30, 2019), https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/30/world/americas/venezuela-crisis.html?smid=url-share; See also, Dany Bahar & Meagan Dooley, Venezuela Refugee Crisis to Become the Largest and Most Underfunded in Modern History, Brookings (Dec. 9, 2019), https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2019/12/09/venezuela-refugee-crisis-to-become-the-largest-and-most-underfunded-in-modern-history/; See also, Venezuela Situation: How the Political Situation Escalated, UNHCR, https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/venezuela-emergency.html (last visited Sept. 24, 2021); See also, Megan Janetsky, Venezuelan Migrants: ‘Legal Status Changes Everything’, BBC (Feb. 10, 2021), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-56009342.

[9] Bahar & Dooley, supra note 8.

[10] Specia, supra note 8; see also Bahar & Dooley, supra note 8.

[11] Dany Bahar & Meagan Dooley, Venezuelan Refugees and Their Receiving Communities Need Funding, Not Sympathy, Brookings (Feb. 26, 2021), https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2021/02/26/venezuelan-refugees-and-their-receiving-communities-need-funding-not-sympathy/ [hereinafter Venezuelan Refugees]; see also Janetsky, supra note 8, (“[An] estimated 5.4 million people [ ] have fled Venezuela in recent years.”); Venezuela Situation: How the Political Situation Escalated, supra note 8.

[12] Nyshka Chandra, Venezuelan Refugee Crisis Could Eclipse Syria’s, Economists Predict, CNBC, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/02/19/venezuela-refugee-crisis-could-be-worse-than-syria-economist.html (last updated Feb. 19, 2018).

[13] OAS Working Group, Final Report of the OAS Working Group to Address the Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Crisis in the Region, OAS 36 (June 2019), http://www.oas.org/documents/eng/press/OAS-Report-to-Address-the-regional-crisis-caused-by-Venezuelas-migrant.pdf; see also Patrick J. Kiger, How Venezuela Fell from the Richest Country in South America into Crisis, History (May 9, 2019) https://www.history.com/news/venezuela-chavez-maduro-crisis.

[14] Venezuela Situation, supra note 8.

[15] Venezuela Situation, supra note 8.

[16] Universal Declaration of Human Rights, UN, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights (last visited Feb. 3, 2022); see OAS Working Group, supra  note 13; Kiger, note 13.

[17] Doug Criss, 5 Reasons Why We should Care About the Crisis in Venezuela (and the Upcoming Election), CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/03/americas/venezuela-why-you-should-care-trnd/index.html (last updated May 20, 2018 10:30 AM); Venezuela: Events of 2020, HRW, https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2021/country-chapters/venezuela# (last visited Jan 21, 2022); Kenneth Roth, Preserving Our Democracies, HRW (Oct. 24, 2016), https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/10/24/preserving-our-democracies.

[18] Roth, supra note 18; Democracy, UN, https://www.un.org/en/global-issues/democracy#:~:text=Democracy%20provides%20an%20environment%20that,will%20of%20people%20is%20exercised.&text=Women%20and%20men%20have%20equal,Universal%20Declaration%20of%20Human%20Rights (last visited Feb. 10, 2022).

[19] The Foundation of International Human Rights Law, UN, https://www.un.org/en/about-us/udhr/foundation-of-international-human-rights-law (last visited Feb. 3, 2022).

[20] Id.

[21] 1951 Convetion, supra note 72; see also, 1967 Protocol, supra note 72.

[22] See Fact Sheet: International Refugee Protection System, Nat’l Immigr. F. (Apr. 1, 2019), https://immigrationforum.org/article/fact-sheet-international-refugee-protection-system/.

[23] See Legomsky & Thronson, supra note 1, at 1137; see 1951 Convention, supra note 72; 1967 Protocol, supra note 72; Adrienne Millbank, Problems with the 1951 Refugee Convention, Parliament of Australia (Sept. 5, 2000), https://www.aph.gov.au/about_parliament/parliamentary_departments/parliamentary_library/pubs/rp/rp0001/01rp05.

[24] See Legomsky & Thronson, supra note 1, at 1135; 1951 Convention, supra note 72; 1967 Protocol, supra note 72.

[25] See Legomsky & Thronson, supra note 1, at 1135.

[26] See Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, UNHCR (Nov. 22, 1984), https://www.oas.org/dil/1984_cartagena_declaration_on_refugees.pdf.

[27] See id.

[28] Id.

[29] See OAS Working Group, supra note 13; Kiger, supra note 13; Venezuela Profile- Timeline, supra note 4 (between 2014 and 2018, two million Venezuelans left the county).

[30] Bahar & Dooley, supra note 8.

[31] See id.

[32] Janetsky, supra note 8.

[33] UNCHR, Protecting Refugees: Questions and Answers, UNHCR (Feb. 1, 2002), https://www.unhcr.org/en-us/publications/brochures/3b779dfe2/protecting-refugees-questions-answers.html [hereinafter Protecting Refugees].

[34] INA 101(a)(42), supra note 164 as compared to 1951 Convention, supra note 72 and 1967 Protocol, supra note 72.

[35] Compare Regional Definition of Refugee, supra note 107 with Cartagena Declaration, supra note 98 and associated text.

[36] See Regional Definition of Refugee, supra note 107; 1951 Convention, supra note 72; 1967 Protocol, supra note 72.

[37] See Regional Definition of Refugee, supra note 107.

[38] See Legomsky & Thronson, supra note 1, at 1137; 1951 Convention, supra note 72; 1967 Protocol, supra note 72; Millbank, supra note 89.

[39] See Regional Definition of Refugee, supra note 107; OAS Working Group, supra note 13; Kiger, supra note 13.

[40] Understanding the Venezuela Refugee Crisis, supra note 93; see also Roth, supra note 19; Democracy, supra note 19.

[41] Bahar & Dooley, supra note 8; see also The Venezuela Crisis, supra note 43; Venezuela Situation, supra note 8; Janetsky, supra note 8.

[42] See Universal Declaration of Human Rights, supra note 199; see also Venezuela: UN Report Urges Accountability for Crimes Against Humanity, supra note 253; Keaton, supra note 254; Rueda & Goodman, supra note 254.

[43] See Venezuela Crisis: How the Political Situation Escalated, supra note 27; See also, Kiger, supra note 13; see also OAS Working Group, supra note 13; The Presidency of Nicolas Maduro, supra note 28; Bahar & Dooley, supra note 8; Millard, Hoffman, Gertz, & C.F. Lin, supra note 36; Kurmanaev & Herrera, supra note 36.

[44] See Starting Out- Why Education for Refugees Matters, supra note 267.

[45] See Venezuela Situation, supra note 8.