PARIS, France — A nation rich in culture, breathtaking landscapes and lively people has been living through a worsening crisis. Venezuela’s economic and socio-political landscape has led to over 7.3 million refugees and migrants across the globe. The extent of this crisis is vast, especially affecting nations in the region. While neighboring countries live with the brunt of the influx, an alternative exists within the tranquil backdrop of South America. Uruguay emerges as an uncelebrated place for Venezuelans to find opportunities for a brighter future.
Venezuela has been dealing with considerable economic and socio-political turmoil for the past two decades. The nation’s crisis has led to a continuous exodus, especially to neighboring countries, with 6.14 million forcibly displaced people finding refuge in Latin America and the Caribbean. These refugees face a series of challenges, including access to food, shelter and securing stable employment. The struggles of migrant status have led some Venezuelans to continue looking for new countries to settle properly. At the same time, some return to their home where their family resides, and familiarity is reinstated.
The U.N. Refugee Agency (UNHCR) outlines that the primary reason for returning Venezuelan refugees is difficulties in access to proper means of integration, experiences with xenophobia and other forms of bigotry, hopes of an improving economic landscape in their homeland and returning to family and friends. Thus, around 300,000 Venezuelans have returned but still face the financial and housing challenges that forced them to flee in the first place.
The waves of Venezuelan migration have led Venezuelans and host nations to grapple with urgent and substantial needs, often hampered by insufficient funding. Within Venezuela, 25% of the population requires humanitarian aid due to extreme poverty, food and water shortages and staggering inflation. With over 6 million people settling in seventeen countries in the region, these neighboring nations face a considerable challenge.
While Colombia, Peru and Chile are more commonly known as Venezuelan migration hubs in the region, Uruguay is an unsung hero as a heaven for Venezuelan refugees. People often view Uruguay as a tranquil and untroubled nation within the turbulent region. Nevertheless, the South American country has been inconspicuously witnessing a noteworthy wave of Venezuelan migration. In 2022, Uruguay stood out as the only nation in the Southern Cone with a consistent trend of more Venezuelan refugees and migrants arriving than leaving. Uruguay does not stand out when one focuses on gross figures alone. However, Venezuelan migration to Uruguay is remarkable when we consider that a nation with only 3.4 million people has seen its Venezuelan community increase from just over 17,000 to around 27,500 throughout 2022.
This influx of Venezuelan migrants has been part of a more significant demographic transition where Dominicans, Venezuelans and Cubans are joining the ranks of typical migrants from Argentina and Brazil. High levels of education, a sizable female population and a high level of working-age people represent the profile of Venezuelan migrants who arrive in Uruguay. While the Mercosur Residency program has been a valuable aid for providing permanent legal residency, migrants find themselves with high unemployment rates at the beginning of their arrival despite their qualifications. Nevertheless, there is a generalized decrease in this trend with time spent in Uruguay.
In an interview with The Borgen Project, Vanessa Sarmiento, a Venezuelan lawyer and president of Manos Veneguayas, gave us insight into the Venezuelan migratory situation in Uruguay and her organization’s role. Manos Veneguayas is a nonprofit civil association based in Uruguay that strives to aid Venezuelan migrants and refugees in their insertion process into Uruguayan society.
Sarmiento explains that the wave of Venezuelan migration to Uruguay is relatively new in both practice and the consciousness of the Venezuelan people. At first, most of these people who migrated to Uruguay had some previous connection to Uruguay. As Venezuela became more turbulent, there were more improvised arrivals based on referrals from others or the need to flee severe experiences with xenophobia and other forms of discrimination.
As planned migration has given way to spontaneous arrivals, Venezuelans have increasingly found themselves in a vulnerable position, leading to migrants with less preparation, worse conditions and reduced capacity to settle in an expensive country like Uruguay. Sarmiento elaborates how Uruguay has an attractive immigration regime as legal residents have access to critical resources equal to nationals, such as free health and education. Nevertheless, she explains how housing is still a complication within Venezuelan migration to Uruguay, especially for incoming families, as they are unable to meet some of the necessary qualifications.
With the challenges that these migrants face, Manos Veneguayas works in consistent direct contact with the Uruguayan authorities, including the National Migration Board, in order to make proper strides to aid these migrants. The work of this organization primarily focuses on culture, job placement, health, entrepreneurship and integration, with a particular focus on socioeconomic insertion. Manos Veneguayas offers continuous personalized weekly labor-related support, including resume building, interview preparation and understanding labor rights.
The organization also strongly promotes entrepreneurship as a path to self-employment, offering training seminars and even a three-month entrepreneurial skills program that leads to membership in the Entrepreneurs Club for Migrants and Refugees. This club provides monthly meetings with networking opportunities as well as practical learning.
Amid a continuing crisis that affects millions of Venezuelans, Uruguay has positioned itself as a place where those who decide to go through the proper and legal means can have a new place to call home. As the forecast of this crisis does not seem short-lived, Uruguay and organizations like Manos Veneguayas are providing platforms and opportunities for resilient Venezuelans to find peace and tranquility and break free from the hardships that initially compelled them to seek refuge.
– Agustín Pino
Photo: Flickr
Source link : https://www.borgenmagazine.com/venezuelan-migration-to-uruguay/
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Publish date : 2023-10-10 03:00:00
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