Aproximaciones a la migración colombo-venezolana: Desigualdad, Prejuicio y Vulnerabilidad

Pérez

2021

Eur J Crim Policy Res

This article examines how Venezuelan forced migrants in Peru experience xenophobic discrimination, which has become increasingly linked to their criminalisation as thieves and murderers. Based on 12 months of qualitative fieldwork, including 72 in-depth interviews, five focus groups, and a survey (N116) in five Peruvian cities, we explore how Venezuelans experience, and make sense of, discrimination and criminalisation in everyday life. First, we discuss how criminalisation compares to general xenophobic discrimination, and other types of discrimination experiences. Second, we juxtapose the prevalence of xenophobic discrimination and criminalisation experiences across the five cities of our study, and between public spaces and the workspace. We then move to the qualitative discussion of the criminalisation experience in these different spaces. Fourth, we discuss how Venezuelan migrants perceive this criminalising discrimination as linked to their villanisation in the media and political discourses. Finally, we discuss our findings and make suggestion for further research. The paper contributes to the literature on migrant criminalisation by exploring how criminalisation processes play out in the context of large-scale intraregional forced displacement in the global South. Keywords Criminalisation . Securitisation . South-South migration . Venezuela . Peru "Why are people from your country such thieves?" and I told him [the neighbour] "But, why is that my fault? I am not to blame for that. Now, look, come and see" […] I had taken a screenshot and said to him "look, this man is Peruvian, he killed his neighbour,

Section: The Criminalisation Of Migration: a Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 95%

Nationality-Based Criminalisation of South-South Migration: the Experience of Venezuelan Forced Migrants in Peru

Pérez

2021

Eur J Crim Policy Res

“…Published in both Spanish and English, these studies have covered a significant range of topics, including policy reactions and integration processes and barriers, such as health outcomes and labour market incorporation, among others. Regarding the former, scholars have offered initial descriptive accounts of different policy reactions (Acosta et al, 2019;Acosta & Brumat, 2020;Brumat & Finn, 2021;Finn & Doña-Reveco, 2021;Freier & Castillo Jara, 2021;Freier & Parent, 2019), increasingly focusing on the securitization of the region's migration policies, as well as on the criminalization of Venezuelan migration (Bahar et al, 2020;Freier & Pérez, 2021;Pineda & Ávila, 2019).…”

Section: Pre Vious Work Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Introduction: Latin American Political and Policy Responses to Venezuelan Displacement

International Migration

Doña‐Reveco

2022

As of December 2021, Venezuela's political, humanitarian and economic crisis has led to the departure of over 6 million of its citizens, rendering it the second biggest and fastest escalating displacement scenario worldwide, which will likely soon surpass the Syrian exodus. Most Venezuelan migrants and refugees have remained in Latin America, often facing situations of precarity, both during the migration journey and in receiving countries. The images of thousands of Venezuelans walking across the continent, sleeping along highways, in parks and in other public spaces, as well as experiencing increasing incidences of xenophobic violence fuelled by criminalizing narratives in the media (UP & ACNUR, 2021a), showcase the increasing vulnerability of this population. The exponential growth of Venezuelan displacement over the years, as well as the increasingly negative public opinion towards this group (UP & ACNUR, 2021b), has put regional immigration and refugee policies to the test. This special issue contributes to the literature on both domestic and regional immigration and refugee policies, by offering a comparison of Latin American governments' political and policy responses to the Venezuelan exodus.The rapid increase in the arrival of Venezuelans, which accelerated in 2016, led to a range of policy responses, and, in some cases, provoked restrictive changes in countries' immigration and refugee legislation. Acosta et al.(2019) classified initial policy reactions into six groups: Those that: (1) (Unilaterally) extended residence agreements of two regional blocs -the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) and the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) -to Venezuelan citizens (Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Uruguay); (2) Implemented special temporary residence permits (Chile, Colombia and Peru); (3) Developed no specific immigration policies (Costa Rica and Paraguay); (4) Applied the 1984 Cartagena Declaration refugee definition (Brazil and Mexico); (5) Executed regularization processes for Venezuelans already living in their territories (Bolivia and Panama) and (6) Enforced sanctions and expulsions (predominantly Caribbean countries).Thus, instead of systematically applying the regional Cartagena refugee definition, or the Mercosur 2002 Residence Agreement (Brumat & Freier, 2021), governments haphazardly responded to the Venezuelan displacement phenomenon with a series of ad hoc policies that were often torn between wanting to protect Venezuelans

“…By contrast, the literature on the criminalization of migration in the Global South is incipient (Barbero, 2019;Oliveira Moreira, 2020;Stang & Stefoni, 2016). With the recent unprecedented level of Venezuelan displacement, scholarship has underscored the overall criminalization of Venezuelan migrants in the region (García, 2020;Pineda & Ávila, 2019). In Peru, research has documented the country's shift in immigration governance-from an open reception of migrants to heightened securitization measures (Aron & Castillo Jara, 2020;)-as well as its effect on the criminalization of Venezuelan migrants and refugees (Condori et al, 2020;Pecho Gonzáles, 2020;.…”

Section: The Criminalization Of Migrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

My Brother the “Other”: Use of Satire and Boundary‐Making by Venezuelan Migrants in Peru

Pérez

2022

While the criminalization and hyper‐sexualization of Venezuelanmigrants and refugees across South America have received growing scholarly attention, fairly little is known about the coping strategies of migrants in this context. In this article, we build on quantitative and qualitative data from a survey (N = 100), 72 in‐depth interviews, and five focus groups with Venezuelan immigrants in five Peruvian cities, collected between 2018 and 2020, to explore how they make sense of, and react to, negative shifts in public opinion on immigration and the criminalization of Venezuelan nationals. We identify two broad coping mechanisms: (a) opposition to their criminalization, including its satirical ridiculing, and (b) intra‐group boundary‐making and “othering.” Our findings make an important contribution to the literature on migrant responses to criminalization and intra‐group relations in the Global South.