Where do migrants come from and where are they going in Latin America?

(CNN) – Children crossing borders alone. People who cross dangerous jungles at the risk of dying in the attempt. Entire families fleeing their homes in the hope of finding a better life in another country. Latin America is experiencing an unprecedented migration crisis. And the pandemic, climatic events and violence in recent years have increased displacement.

This Friday, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) requested US $ 74.7 million to respond to the humanitarian needs of the “growing number of vulnerable migrants who move from the Caribbean and South America and then cross Central America to Mexico and the United States.” . “These highly vulnerable migrants are mainly Haitian citizens, in addition to Cubans, Brazilians and Chileans. Others are nationals of Asia and Africa,” says the IOM in a statement.

Migration patterns have changed significantly in Latin America in recent years. A report of the Inter-American Development Bank highlights that the crisis in Venezuela has been the determining factor par excellence of the migrations that have occurred in Latin America during the last five years ”.

“In that period, during which it is estimated that more than 3.8 million Venezuelans left their country, the remaining Latin American countries issued more than 1.75 million permits to citizens of Venezuela,” the IDB report details.

“The crisis in Venezuela has been the determining factor par excellence of migration in Latin America and the Caribbean during the last five years,” says the IDB report. “In that period, during which it is estimated that more than 3.8 million Venezuelans left their country, the remaining countries in the region issued more than 1.75 million permits to citizens of Venezuela.”

Added to this is the growing displacement of Haitians, who “have migrated to South America, and large numbers are moving from the Northern Triangle of Central America to Mexico and to the United States, and from Nicaragua to Costa Rica.”

These are the recent trends in the region, according to the information collected on the site Migration Data Portal, from IOM:

South America

The most recent interregional movements in South America have had as main destinations Argentina, Chile and Brazil. According to data from the Migration Data portal, mainly migrants from the Andean countries and Paraguay arrive there.

These movements are fundamentally driven by the search for better job and economic opportunities.

There has also been changes in migratory flows for Colombia and Venezuela in the last five years, related to internal conflicts in those countries. According to the IOM data portal, “since Colombia began peace negotiations in 2016 and 2017 after five decades of conflict, and the social and economic landscape of Venezuela began to worsen, many Colombians have returned to their country and a considerable number Venezuelans emigrated to Colombia ”.

The Syrian crisis also caused the displacement of migrants from that country to South America. “In this context, some countries in South America have granted humanitarian visas and have implemented resettlement programs,” says Migration Data.

In turn, Brazil receives asylum seekers mostly from Africa.

There has also been an increase in migrants from the Caribbean in recent years.

With regard to migration from the Caribbean, in recent years there has been an increase in the presence of people from the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. According to the IOM data portal, some of these people “transit from Colombia to Panama through the Darien jungle en route to the United States and Canada.

This crossing is particularly dangerous. UNICEF has reported with concern that nearly 19,000 migrant children have crossed the Darien region on foot in 2021.

“In this dense rainforest, migrant families with children are especially exposed to violence, including sexual abuse, human trafficking and extortion by criminal gangs. Children crossing the Darien region are also at risk of contracting diarrhea, respiratory diseases, dehydration and other conditions that require immediate attention, “UNICEF said in a statement.

“More than 100,000 migrants so far this year have irregularly crossed the dangerous jungle of the Darien Gap into Panama from Colombia after walking through several countries in South America. The figure for the first nine months of 2021 triples the previous record of 30,000 on the same route throughout 2016. From Panama, migrants continue north on a journey that is particularly dangerous for women and children, “IOM said in a statement posted this friday.

Central America

The pandemic and its consequent movement restrictions have strongly affected migratory flows in Central America. “The closure of the borders left groups of migrants trapped in border posts, who were unable to continue on their way, as well as to return to their country of origin,” indicates the Migration Data portal.

In turn, the report highlights a shocking fact: “For the year 2020 it was estimated that an approximate total of 16.2 million people from the region resided in a country other than their origin.”

“By the end of 2020 there were a total of 714,558 refugees and asylum seekers in the world from Central America and Mexico, 17.1 percent refugees and 82.9 percent asylum seekers,” according to the study.

The main destination of these migrants is the United States.

As published Pew Research in August this year, “the US Border Patrol reported nearly 200,000 encounters with migrants along the US-Mexico border in July, the highest monthly total in more than two decades.

Meanwhile, this Friday it became known that the Border Patrol made “almost 1.66 million arrests for illegal crossings on the border between the United States and Mexico during the past year.” It is the highest annual number of arrests recorded, according to published CNN.

The previous record was 1.64 million arrests at the border in 2000, based on available data from the southern border dating back to 1960.

The Migration Data report also highlights that in recent years Mexico “has become an important destination and transit country for both intra-regional and non-regional migration flows.”

“Both Mexico and the United States capture a large number of people trying to enter through unofficial channels and points,” the report says.

Central America has also experienced large displacement of people in the wake of recent natural disasters. Honduras is one of the most affected countries, and this is also one of the reasons why many people leave Haiti.

Caribbean

Natural disasters have also been strong drivers of displacement in the Caribbean region, to which the arrival of Venezuelan refugees has also been added.

In turn, “the Caribbean is a region with a high tendency to emigration, as of 2019, ten of the main 20 countries and territories of emigration (in terms of proportion of the total population) in the world are in the Caribbean ”Says Migration Data.

In the statement released this Friday, the directors of the IOM regional offices in San José and Buenos Aires said that “more than 200,000 Haitians who had already settled in Argentina, Brazil and Chile after the 2010 Haiti earthquake are also each more vulnerable. “

” The worsening of socioeconomic conditions, the tightening of visa regulations, difficulties in obtaining information and documents to regularize their status, the impact of the covid-19 pandemic and the increase in xenophobia, among other factors, have profoundly impacted the well-being of the Haitian community in these countries and reduced opportunities for integration, “he says. the notice.