Key Updates
• People remain displaced from Venezuela: According to the latest update from the Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V), as of May 2023, 7,320,225 Venezuelans had left the country. Among the total, 6,136,402 (84%) migrated to Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Biometric registration of irregular arrivals in Chile: The Ministry of the Interior and the National Migration Service announced a biometric registration process to facilitate the registration and identification of non-citizens who entered the country irregularly before May 30, 2023, and remain irregularly on Chilean territory.
• Continuation of the “I am here” regularisation and migratory amnesty for Venezuelans who entered irregularly: Following the Ecuadorian migratory amnesty of Executive Decree No. 753 dated May 31, Venezuelan citizens and their families who entered Ecuadorian territory irregularly and completed the Migratory Permanence Registration under the “I am here” strategy can apply for Temporary Residency Visas of Exception (VITRE).
• Persistent increase in mixed migration through the Darien Gap: Panama's National Migration Service (SNM) recorded more than 196,000 irregular entries of people coming through the Darien Gap between January and June 2023. This is an increase of +297% compared to the same period in 2022 (49,452 entries).
• Measures adopted by the United States following the lifting of Title 42: On April 28, 2023, the United States government announced measures to manage migration when Title 42 ended. These measures include resuming border processing under Title 8, implementing a new rule restricting asylum eligibility, establishing Secure Mobility Offices in Colombia, Panama, and Costa Rica, and expanding CBP One app appointments.
• Mixed migration by sea: Despite the risks of shipwreck and death, people are still migrating by sea through Caribbean Island states. Between January and May 2023, 2,554 people of 50 different nationalities were arrested for violating immigration laws in the Bahamas.