Devoid of documentation and shelter and lacking access to the labor market, many of the roughly 25,000 Venezuelan refugees sheltered in Guyana are falling victim to smuggling networks, becoming prey to human traffickers or finding informal employment in the gold mining sector and more than half are children. Almost none of the Venezuelan migrants are protected by any type of healthcare or unemployment insurance.
Since 2019, Venezuelan refugees have settled mainly in hard-to-reach frontier areas. Without formal job opportunities, most continue to survive by begging or depending on humanitarian assistance which is scarce due to their unrecognized refugee status.
Venezuela-Guyana territorial dispute worsens refugees’ status
The situation of the migrants is further aggravated by a long-term territorial conflict between Guyana and Venezuela over the large border region of Essequibo that currently belongs to Guyana. The most recent controversy was the referendum undertaken by the Venezuelan Government in 2023, aspiring to annex the Essequibo region, which Venezuela claims as its own although it has not exercised any control over it since 1899.
This sparked an adverse reaction from locals who feared that the creation of a Venezuelan minority [AP6] could be used by President Maduro’s regime as a tool to justify the annexation of Essequibo. The crisis could signal the birth of a new category of unrecognized migration as well as the beginning of a protracted regional humanitarian crisis that will generate systemic problems, the International Organization for Migration warned.
The situation can be likened to the film, The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks becomes stranded at JFK airport with a revoked passport and without any legal option to leave, except here, several tens of thousands of people find themselves in a much more nuanced deadlock.
No refugee status
Venezuelan refugees are technically not considered to be refugees by the Guyanese authorities. They therefore live in a legal limbo, unable to take part in the potential of oil-windfall prosperity for the citizens of the world’s fastest-growing economy that needs to fill gaps in the labor market. The ability of Venezuelan refugees to work is impacted by their legal status, lack of work permits, and the required documentation as well as language skills.
Their access to services is mired in a vicious circle of legal status and poverty, including the lack of a registered address that would provide utility bills or salary slips necessary for official registration at institutions such as banks or universities. Therefore, even though the official status of Venezuelans does not restrict them from many services, the lack of formal documentation does and thus they become involved in informal labor markets including child labor. Many women and members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly vulnerable groups, turn to survival prostitution and other negative coping mechanisms.
The essence of the problem is the lack of relevant legal status of these migrants, officially termed Persons of Concern (POCs) which does not allow for their integration into local society. Historically, Guyana has received migrants as well as refugees from neighboring countries but it does not have a formal system for the recognition of refugee status.
Guyana not a signatory to international refugee docs
Guyana is one of the founding members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), it hosts its permanent headquarters and engages in matters related to cross-border migration. Nevertheless, Guyana is not a State Party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, nor its 1967 Protocol, or to the Cartagena treaty, or the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED). The principal legislative framework regulating immigration in Guyana is the country’s Immigration Act.
Venezuelans currently have several legal opportunities to remain in Guyana. The main option is the renewable stay permit which increased from 3 to 6 months in 2022 and can be extended twice. However, this does not provide a work permit.
Double nationality can be another way of achieving legal status but this is not recognized unless the second citizenship has been obtained by marrying a Guyanese citizen.
No official stats on refugees, no deportations either
As per official statistics, last year there were 248 officially recognized refugees in Guyana. Applications for asylum are usually granted at the discretion of the Government but this is not a simple procedure as applicants must prove destitution, harassment or physical danger in returning to their home country.
Although the Bureau of Statistics gathers data on the population of Guyana, it does not provide information on the migrant or unrecognized refugee population in the country. This means that the actual number of refugees can only be an educated guess and the numbers are likely to be much higher. According to government announcements in the past, Guyana will not be granting refugee or asylum status to most Venezuelan people.
The government has insisted that UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) do not consider the migrants from Venezuela as refugees, thus being entitled to refugee status. However, despite that rigid stance, since the situation began in 2017, successive governments have not been involved in any widespread deportation of migrants.
Also, aware of the potential of a diaspora to access aid, a re-migrant scheme recently became one of the initiatives of the Government. This initiative mostly targeted members of the Guyanese diaspora living abroad and helped them to return to Guyana to re-settle but also included Venezuelan migrants with proven Guyanese origins who, together with their family members, live in Venezuela but plan to migrate. The Government created the Re-migration Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to provide strategic directions to facilitate reintegration. It engages government institutions and other agencies on issues affecting qualifying re-migrants who can be granted tax exemptions and receive advice.
A glimmer of hope
At present, Guyana is experiencing a unique and particularly dynamic chapter of its existence. The unprecedented windfall of oil discovery that made it the fastest-growing economy on the planet last year overshadows the story of the tens of thousands of Venezuelan refugees who may never return to their homeland and from a legal point of view seem not to exist with no option to become officially recognized members of the society in which they live.
Therefore, in a country that is enjoying its long-hoped-for dream of prosperity, Venezuelan POCs remain at risk of deportation with many being without full access to health care, the financial system, or social services and facing limitations on work and business while struggling with discrimination and legal restrictions.
There is, however, a glimmer of hope on the horizon. As Guyana is poised to become a top-producing oil and gas economy globally within the next few years this will result in a pronounced gap between the industry’s demand for labor and the availability of workers at the local level which may convince the authorities to make use of the available workforce, even though they may still lack legal status.
