Solutions to the human mobility of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Latin America and the Caribbean are articulated in Brasilia
The Quito Process, the technical forum that works on the search for solutions to human mobility in the region, brings together in person at its 2022 Plenary Session all 13 member countries, the Group of Friends and civil society.
By Isadora Zoni
Brasilia, June 29th 2022 - On June 30th and July 1st, at the Itamaraty Palace in Brasilia, the 13 member countries of the Quito Process will participate in the Plenary of the regional technical forum and sign in person the Joint Declaration on human mobility of Venezuelans in the region, a document that proposes intergovernmental solutions with a view to promoting a more articulated regional response.
During the event, chaired by Carlos Alberto Franco França, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, topics such as the impact of international cooperation, the role of civil society in the regional response and the incidence of COVID-19 on refugees and migrants in the region will be discussed. During the panel discussions, the Regional Strategy against Xenophobia of the Quito Process, among others, will be officially presented.
With the presence of Eduardo Stein, Joint Special Representative for Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants, the Plenary Session will hold its protocol acts on June 30th and will conclude with the signing of the Joint Declaration of the Brasilia Chapter on July 1st.
The Declaration summarizes a year of intense work in the search for technical solutions to the situation of refugees and migrants by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Mexico, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay - member countries of the Quito Process. It also makes an international appeal to the possibility of invisibilization of the situation caused by the flow of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region.
The 'Brasilia Chapter' began on May 28, 2021, when Brazil assumed the Pro Tempore Presidency of the Quito Process and proposed to generate a deep reflection on the human mobility of refugees and migrants, reevaluate the processes, measure the impacts and include within the discussions host communities and groups in vulnerable situations.
A year later, after 86 high-level meetings with the different working groups, and the holding of 10 workshops and 4 webinars with more than 1,000 participants in these thematic discussion spaces, the Joint Declaration reaffirms the importance of the exchange of good practices between countries and the follow-up of common problems to promote and protect the dignity and human rights of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in the region.
Also, in the Plenary session, the 11 members of the Group of Friends (Canada, United States, France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, United Kingdom, the European Union and the Inter-American Development Bank) will define a roadmap for their technical and financial support in programs related to human mobility, socio-economic integration, asylum, education, child protection, gender equity and human trafficking, among others.
The 'Brasilia Chapter' of the Quito Process is particularly aware of the constant evolution on the part of the member countries in the development of rules and procedures that facilitate and simplify the regularization of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and that, according to projections of the Pro Tempore Presidency of Brazil, in its document on the Scope of the recommendations of the Quito Process by the end of 2022, they will benefit more than 3,500,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants.