Human Rights Watch Urges Better Migrant Protections in Latin America

Human Rights Watch has called on Latin American governments to enhance protections and provide legal status for Haitian and Venezuelan migrants. The organization highlights the challenges faced by these migrants, including limited integration policies and dangerous journeys to the US. The group advocates for a region-wide protection regime to alleviate these issues.

A global human rights watchdog on Wednesday called on Latin American governments to improve protection schemes, grant legal status, and reverse "onerous visa requirements" for millions of Haitians and Venezuelans who have struggled to find work, access to health care, and education in South American host countries. This struggle has been forcing them to increasingly seek asylum in the United States.

According to a report by Human Rights Watch, "limited" integration and regularisation policies in South America are compelling vulnerable people to head to the United States every month. Many asylum seekers endure a perilous journey to reach the US border, including the risky crossing of the Darien Gap, a roadless swath of jungle between Colombia and Panama.

The organisation urged Latin American governments to implement a "region-wide protection regime" that would grant legal status to all Venezuelans and Haitians for a renewable and adequate duration, even if they may not qualify for refugee status under domestic law. The report also called for the elimination of barriers preventing migrants from obtaining work permits while seeking asylum.

"While some Latin American governments have made commendable efforts to receive migrants and asylum seekers, restrictive timelines, complex procedures, onerous document requirements, and administrative delays have often hampered these efforts," the report noted. Human Rights Watch reviewed asylum policies in several countries, including Panama, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, and Chile, and pointed out that the capacity limitations of asylum systems have resulted in significant delays.

Panama officials reported that over 700,000 migrants have crossed the Darien Gap in the past 18 months on their way to the United States, with 238,000 people crossing so far this year. Approximately 65 per cent of those making this treacherous journey are Venezuelans fleeing their country's political and economic crisis. Meanwhile, 11,000 Haitians have also crossed the jungle this year alone, motivated by acute food insecurity and violence in their home country.

Human Rights Watch emphasized that Haitians in South America face difficulties in obtaining residence permits or formal jobs, making it challenging to support their families back home and pushing them towards the US. Venezuelans, who form a significant portion of asylum seekers, also struggle to integrate into South American economies that have slowed post-pandemic.

Research by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) suggests that most Venezuelans seeking asylum in the United States had originally tried to settle in other South American countries like Peru, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. A UNHCR report in July indicated that 66 per cent of Venezuelans who crossed the Darien Jungle that month had previously lived in South America.

(With inputs from agencies.)