More and more Venezuelan migrants find themselves in the need to obtain, as Juan Luis Guerra sings, “a visa for a dream, a visa not to return… “. With the uninterrupted flow of people fleeing Venezuela, more countries in the Americas have imposed measures that hinder the transit and arrival of migrants and refugees to their territories.
Countries are divided between the moral imperatives that motivate their international obligations to migrants and refugees and the need to control their borders, and the discretion they have to define their migration policies. This is a false dilemma, as there is enough evidence to show that imposing new requirements that are more difficult to meet does not discourage migration. This does not prevent people from fleeing for their lives and their families and crossing international borders.
Greater vulnerability, more requirements
In December, while the holidays were being celebrated, Mexico announced that it would impose a visa requirement on Venezuelan citizens “who intend to enter the country as visitors without permission to carry out paid activities”. The Mexican government noted that it has identified an increase in the number of people of this nationality who enter for a purpose other than that permitted under the visitor’s stay, as well as an increase in their irregular transit to a third country. With Mexico, there are already 99 countries that require a visa for Venezuelans.
This announcement causes a stir, but no surprise. As part of a regional trend towards tougher migration policies, Mexico has joined the long list of countries that have imposed a visa as a prerequisite for entering their territory since the mass migration from Venezuela in 2015.
In 2017, Panama led the way in visa enforcement for Venezuelans. In 2018, Chile created the “democratic responsibility visa”, and the following year, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago and Ecuador joined the list, according to research by experts Andrew Selee and Jessica Bolter published by the Migration Policy Institute,
In contrast, Colombia, being the country that receives – by far – the largest number of people fleeing Venezuela, has maintained a considerably more open border policy than its counterparts.
Unfulfilled agreements: the long wait for a regional response
In 2018, UN Member States adopted the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration at the General Assembly. The Pact, although a non-binding agreement, is a milestone as it is a worldwide effort to set goals for the protection of the human rights of migrants.
However, the Pact reiterates the sovereignty and discretion that States have to define their migration policies, while establishing rather vague political commitments, as experts Guild, Basaran and Allinson warn. Indeed, the language of the Pact is often taken by governments to refer to visa policies that are, in essence, restrictive, as oriented to ensuring “orderly, safe and regular migration”, making it an understatement.
At the regional level, there were efforts such as the Quito Process or even the agreements of the Lima Group, but they were violated, giving rise to a disjointed and incoherent response by recipient countries to mass migration from Venezuela.
The inequality behind the visa system
It’s no secret that there is a sort of global hierarchy of freedom in the visa system. People from poor countries, which are subject to dictatorships and live in armed conflict, face enormous barriers to mobility.
At the other extreme, for example, citizens of member states of the Organization for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development are often exempt from the typical visa restrictions imposed on the rest of mortals. This fuels sharp inequalities between citizens of the Global North and South.
Additionally, and especially where geography permits, the imposition of more difficult regular income requirements does not have the deterrent effect desired by governments. Far from stopping migration, these policies make it more difficult to identify and account for those who enter, increase the risks faced by the most vulnerable people in irregular crossings, and promote all sorts of criminal economies related to migration, such as smuggling and human trafficking. .
After the implementation of the visa requirement for Venezuelans in Chile, Ecuador and Peru, regular migration decreased and a false perception of greater border control was created, according to the study by Andrew Selee and Jessica Bolter published by the Migration Policy Institute. On the contrary, and as expected, what has happened is a notable increase in crossings by unauthorized routes, as well as a rise in the networks of migrant smugglers and criminal groups that control these dangerous routes.
A reality that transcends Venezuelans
Of course, this is not a phenomenon that Venezuelans experience exclusively. This harsh reality is also faced by people of other nationalities from South and Central America, Asia and Africa. The situation of the people of Venezuela, due to its magnitude, has only highlighted the ineffectiveness of visa policies to curb forced migration. Visas are expensive, require official documentation, and often involve virtually impossible requirements for migrants to fulfil.
People whose lives depend on the decision to flee their country will continue to cross borders in search of opportunities. On the other hand, restrictive immigration regularization policies only increase the barriers that these people must face in order to exercise their rights in the countries of destination and integrate into host societies.
Source: Folha
