No Strangers at the Gate

The report was researched and written by Michael Camilleri, director of the Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program at the Inter- 4 No Strangers At the Gate: Collective Responsibility and a Region’s Response to the Venezuelan Refugee and Migration Crisis. [...] In addition, a troubling absence of account- are now also the leading requesters of asylum in the United States ability exists at the root of the crisis: the Venezuelan leaders who and Spain.vii With no end in sight for the economic, humanitarian, are driving their citizens to despair and imposing enormous costs and governance crisis in Venezuela, the forced migration challenge on neighboring coun [...] Collective Responsibility and a Region’s Response to the Venezuelan Refugee and Migration Crisis 7. 2. The Venezuelan Exodus Historically a popular destination for immigrants and a refuge for those fleeing persecution elsewhere, Venezuela witnessed the beginning of an emigra- tion trend in the 1980s as a result of a drop in global oil prices. [...] The government of Colombia has responded by keeping their borders rel- opened just one underutilized shelter in the border city of Cúcuta, leaving civil society organizations and the Catholic Church to try to atively open and by creating alternative meet the needs of the poorest Venezuelans.lxxii Still, around 1,000 Venezuelans sleep on the streets of Cúcuta every night,lxxii pathways to legal sta [...] Given the underlying conditions in Venezuela and the munities for schools, health care, and infrastructurewhich scope of the migration crisis, strong consideration should be would benefit both the local population and forcibly dis- given to collective determinations of refugee status, as rec- cxiii placed Venezuelans as part of a broader strategy of com- ommended by the IACHR.