The Global Compact for Migration and the Venezuelan Migration Crisis in Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. A Comparative Approach

Abstract

Since 2015 the Venezuelan migration and refugee crisis has become a central issue in the Latin American political agenda. Hyperinflation, high rates of poverty and violence, and the lack of infrastructure have triggered the exodus of millions of Venezuelans to countries throughout the region, most in need of humanitarian assistance. This essay explores how Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, the primary host countries for the Venezuelan migration within the region, have implemented the Global Compact for Migration. Once considered ‘sending’ migrant countries, the three countries of this study have had to come up with strategies to handle the large numbers of migrants coming from Venezuela. By adopting the Compact these countries agreed upon treating migration as a common challenge, and to that extent, to join forces to replace domestic, individual efforts to deal with migration with coordinated actions to reinforce the rights-based approach to migration proposed by the Global Compact. And yet, such a statement does not mean that Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador have uniformly implemented the Compact. The recent tightening of the refugee and immigration procedures in some countries of Latin America, including Peru and Ecuador, illustrates the variety of public discourses regarding the Compact within the region. While further research is desirable to clarify the role of public aid agencies, NGOs, and foundations in implementing the Compact, this article aims to describe the particularities of the national political debate in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador when adopting the Compact and seeks to assess to what extent the Compact has transformed the domestic migration policies in these countries in light of the Venezuelan migration crisis.