• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Friday, March 5, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion

Venezuelan Refugee Crisis and Role of Brazilian Solidarity

Thayana Marques Araujo Ayoobi by Thayana Marques Araujo Ayoobi
06/26/18
in Opinion
Venezuelans walk across the border from Venezuela into the Brazilian city of Pacaraima, Roraima state, Brazil.

Venezuelans walk across the border from Venezuela into the Brazilian city of Pacaraima in the northernmost state of Roraima. Photo: Nacho Doce, Reuters

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

The ongoing Venezuelan crisis is gradually turning into a challenge for South America. This state of emergency Venezuela found itself in goes beyond the lack of humanitarian aid. It involves the failure of a government that has for years been supported by several countries in the region.

Brazilian former Presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff, Argentinian former President Cristina de Kirchner and Bolivian President Evo Morales have been the main supporters of the Venezuelan regime, its ideology, and the claims that the fall of global oil prices is responsible for the current crisis in the country.

Hyperinflation and lack of food, medicine, and other vital resources have forced millions of Venezuelans out of the country. In 2017 alone, over 1.5 million people fled Venezuela and over half of them have sought residency or refuge in various South American countries, according to data from the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Brazil, as the largest and the most powerful South American country, given its economic and political leverage, must take action. Not only should Brazil protect the incoming forced migrants, it should also demand efforts from the regime of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to re-establish law and order in Venezuela and to guarantee the restoration of a true democratic government.

Brazil has been receiving an average of 800 Venezuelan migrants per day, mainly through the northernmost state of Roraima. The latest reports show that the state capital Boa Vista is hosting around 40,000 Venezuelans. Research done by the Brazilian government and IOM shows that most of those migrants do not wish to remain in Brazil, but prefer to continue their journey further south to Argentina or Chile.

The same research, which contains interviews with over 3,500 people, showed that although 42 percent of those migrants are employed, the majority (82 percent) works in the informal sector and therefore receives wages that are below the national minimum.

The Venezuelans that are fleeing their country are in desperate need of protection. In Brazil religious organizations, the U.N. Refugee Agency, and other civil society groups are helping these refugees.

The Brazilian government has increased its presence on the border with Venezuela and has started a national resettlement program for the migrants who wish to go to different cities. The government, along with IOM, the U.N. Refugee Agency and the U.N. Population Fund, provides transportation and housing in different Brazilian cities to alleviate the state of Roraima.

Regional Solidarity

Solidarity is an aspect that has been present in the region throughout history. To mitigate the suffering of Venezuela, the Brazilian government could look backward at how asylum seekers forced to flee by dictatorial regimes of the 1970s were protected and the programs aimed at Colombian forced migrants.

“Resettlement in solidarity” is a regional program that was launched at the 20th anniversary of the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees and aimed at alleviating countries with a great number of regional refugees. Even though the program mainly focuses on Colombian refugees in Ecuador and Costa Rica, it is high time that Latin America once again steps up to provide relief to the Venezuelans.

Brazil, always craving a better position at the global humanitarian field, proposed a program that would allow any country in Latin America to host refugees that were waiting for settlement in other countries. The solidarity approach in Latin America shows that the whole region values the maintenance and establishment of such global virtues as human rights and security.

With 52,000 Venezuelans in its territory and more coming in every day, the ball is definitely on the Brazilian court. It will not be an easy task and the challenges are great for Brazil and the migrants: unemployment rates are high (13.1 percent) and 87 percent of the nation disapproves of President Michel Temer’s way of governing. With presidential elections less than four months away, the Venezuelan issue will most definitely be on the candidates’ agenda.

To make matters worse, the Brazilian Congress recently had to approve a $275 million payment of a Venezuelan loan installment in which Brazil is the guarantor. Overall, during Lula da Silva’s and Dilma Rousseff’s presidencies, Brazil had been the guarantor of around 1.5 billion dollars to Venezuela. In a country where citizens are facing economic and social hardships with poor quality of public services and increasing violence, the population is starting to demand answers from its leaders.

Jair Bolsonaro, one of the leading presidential candidates, has been demonstrating a Trump-like attitude toward refugees and once referred to them as the “scum of the world.” These attitudes and perceptions are spreading among Bolsonaro’s supporters, who have started a nationalist and xenophobic discourse and are against receiving refugees.

Xenophobia in a country formed by migrants and known for being welcoming and open to all is a worrying aspect of the rise of Bolsonaro’s popularity. Hate-speech and xenophobic attacks have been present in the lives of not only Venezuelans, but also refugees and migrants from African countries and Haiti. Bolsonaro’s Trump-like attitude has led some to call him “the Brazilian Trump,” a title that anyone should be ashamed of rather than proud.

To gain international leverage, Brazil must maintain its traditional policies based on solidarity instead of hate. Whatever the outcome of the October election will be, humanism should prevail.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of The Globe Post.
Share2Tweet
Thayana Marques Araujo Ayoobi

Thayana Marques Araujo Ayoobi

Brazilian, currently living in India, where she completed her MA in Government and Public Policy with an emphasis on Refugee Policy in South America.

Related Posts

Tunisian civil protection workers
Refugees

Bodies of 20 Migrants Retrieved Off Tunisia, Ministry Says

by Staff Writer
December 24, 2020
Conversion therapy has affected hundreds of thousands of individuals in the US.
World

More Than 300 Religious Leaders Urge Ban on ‘Conversion Therapy’

by Staff Writer
December 16, 2020
Carrefour
World

Brazilians Outraged Over Death of Black Man Beaten by Carrefour Security

by Staff Writer
November 20, 2020
A man holding a Venezuelan national flag during a protest against President Nicolas Maduro.
World

Venezuelans ‘Dying Slowly’ in Rat- and Roach-Infested Homes

by Staff Writer
October 28, 2020
Former Bolivian President Evo Morales
World

Morales Says Will Return to Bolivia After Ally’s Election Victory

by Staff Writer
October 19, 2020
Smoke and flames rise from a forest area near Samos migrant camp.
Refugees

Thirteen Detained After Fire Near Second Greek Camp

by Staff Writer
September 16, 2020
Next Post
Hassan Rouhani, President of Iran

Iran's Rouhani Calls for Unity in Face of Economic Woes

Iranians protest in Tehran

Iran May Be Facing Full Political Takeover by Revolutionary Guard Corps

Recommended

Malika Boumendjel, widow of Algerian lawyer Ali Boumendjel, speaks in a 2001 interview about her husband's death during his detention by the French army.

Algeria Welcomes France’s Admission It Killed Independence Figure

March 4, 2021
Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

Attempted US Capitol Coup a Security and Existential Crisis

March 3, 2021
Myanmar police fire water cannon at protesters as they continue to demonstrate against the February 1 military coup.

Six Dead as Myanmar Security Forces Fire at Protesters

March 3, 2021
Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was killed on October 2, 2018, while he was inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, Turkey.

Reporters Without Borders Sue Saudi Prince Over Khashoggi Murder

March 2, 2021
Hatice Cengiz delivers a speech addressing the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Capitol Hill, May 16, 2019.

Khashoggi Fiancée Demands Punishment for Saudi Prince

March 1, 2021
People lay flowers in central Moscow at the site where late opposition leader Boris Nemtsov was fatally shot, February 27, 2021.

Russians Mark Sixth Anniversary of Kremlin Critic’s Murder

February 27, 2021

Opinion

Jake Angeli speaks to a US Capitol Police officer.

Attempted US Capitol Coup a Security and Existential Crisis

March 3, 2021
What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

March 1, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post