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This Quarterly Mixed Migration Update (QMMU) covers the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The core countries of focus for this region are the countries currently affected by the Venezuelan crisis, including Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, in addition to the Caribbean islands. Concerning northern movements to the United Sates, this QMMU covers Mexico and Central American countries. Depending on the quarterly trends and migration-related updates, more attention may be given to some of the countries over the rest.

The QMMUs offer a quarterly update on new trends and dynamics related to mixed migration and relevant policy developments in the region. These updates are based on a compilation of a wide range of secondary (data) sources, brought together within a regional framework and applying a mixed migration analytical lens. Similar QMMUs are available for all MMC regions.

Key Updates

Number of displaced Venezuelans continues to increase: From January to March, an estimated 100,000 new refugees and migrants left Venezuela. The total number of Venezuelans who have fled their country since the beginning of the current crisis has now reached 4.9 million.

New migrant caravans from Central America face restrictive response: Two migrant caravans that departed from Honduras in January were largely stopped in Guatemala and Mexico, with allegations of excessive use of force by Mexican National Guard troops against the migrants and refugees. This stands in strong contrast to the reception that caravans received in 2018 and 2019.

Calls to guarantee minimum conditions in Mexican migration detention centres in light of COVID-19:Following the death of an asylum-seeker in March during a protest at a Mexican immigration detention centre, which denounced the prolonged detention, overcrowding, and lack of sanitary conditions of the premises, calls to guarantee sanitary conditions in the centres or to release migrants and refugees in detention in order to protect them from the spread of COVID-19 have grown.

COVID-19 and access to rights: In light of the preventive measures adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in many countries and, in particular, mandatory nation-wide self-isolation access to food, clean water, shelter and work for migrants and refugees are currently key challenges. In particular, migrants and refugees working in the informal economy, who become unemployed, and who live on daily earnings or on remittances from family members abroad, are among the most affected.

Closure of international borders in response to COVID-19: By the end of March, all Latin American countries with the exception of Nicaragua, as well as the U.S. and Canada, had imposed measures to close borders or restrict international travel in order to contain the spread of COVID-19, with varied impacts on migrants and refugees seeking to enter or exit these countries.

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Quarterly Mixed Migration Update Latin America and the Caribbean, Quarter 1, 2020 - World - ReliefWeb