New York, NY, June 7, 2022 — As leaders and civil society representatives from across the Western Hemisphere meet in Los Angeles for the Ninth Summit of the Americas, the International Rescue Committee (IRC) presents a set of recommendations to address the humanitarian crises in Latin America.
International and regional cooperation and sustained funding are necessary to ensure protection for the more than 7 million refugees under the protection of the UNHCR in Latin America, internally displaced people, Venezuelans displaced abroad, and asylum seekers. These groups are just a fraction of the people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region, who have been displaced internally or are trying to resettle in communities where asylum and protection systems are overstretched or non-existent. To promote a comprehensive humanitarian and refugee response, the IRC recommends that:
- Donors and host states agree to concrete commitments on financing, as well as responsibility sharing, and a framework for the harmonization of policies. Ad hoc national policies have created confusing systems through which people on the move have been forced to navigate, deepening the protection risks they face, especially women, children, indigenous people, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. These commitments should be agreed to with robust input from civil society and include protection; personal documentation; access to education, work and health care; immigration status regularization; and addressing the needs of populations at high risk.
- International financial institutions incorporate lessons learned from multilaterally-supported and funded compact initiatives in humanitarian and protection emergencies around the world into the responses in Latin America. This is important as migration within, through, and out of Latin America is highly global in nature and, as such, requires a coordinated global response to meet the needs of people on the move in this region. The international community has agreed upon regional initiatives in other contexts, including the Global Compact on Migration and the Global Compact for Refugees, that are directly applicable to the Latin American context.
- Non-U.S. donors are engaged to rethink the approach to a humanitarian response in Latin America. Institutions and governments, such as the UNHCR, the United States and the World Bank should utilize their convening powers to engage additional donors—such as the European Commission, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom or Japan—and draw on lessons learned from the Jordan Compact to strengthen responses in the region. While the United States has provided important and life-saving support in the region–becoming the largest donor–it is imperative that the overall response is not overly reliant on any one donor: an international response is needed.
Meghan Lopez, Regional Vice President for Latin America at the International Rescue Committee (IRC), said:
“Migration and displacement from and throughout Latin America is not a new phenomenon—our countries have a long history as places of origin, transit, and destination. Rather, what we are now seeing is that the scale of the humanitarian and displacement crises affecting the region is unprecedented. Despite this history, the current tools are not meeting the magnitude and complexity of the challenge as national systems are overstretched and international funding has not kept pace with the scale of need in the region.
“Despite soaring needs that Latin Americans—as well as people from all over the world moving through the region—face, the seven UNOCHA humanitarian and regional response plans that do exist have been largely underfunded. For instance, in 2021, out of the seven Humanitarian and Regional Response Plans, five received less than 50% of the required funding, affecting people in and from Venezuela, Honduras, Haiti and Colombia. On the other hand, Mexico, which received the third highest number of asylum requests of any country globally last year and hosts more than 285,000 people of concern—including refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced people—does not even have an active HRP.
“The broader international community has largely failed to respond to the crises in Latin America comprehensively and holistically, leaving the responsibility in the hands of host countries. These communities have shouldered the response despite dealing with pre-existing challenges and receiving insufficient support from a small group of donor countries (primarily the U.S.) and institutions. In the months following the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, we call on world leaders participating in it to work together, develop a harmonized regional response and provide durable solutions to the humanitarian crises that are affecting millions of people in and from Venezuela, Northern Central America, Haiti, or Mexico.”
Diverse factors—from conflict to economic instability, climate change and the effects of COVID-19—continue to be primary driving factors behind the increasing mixed and onward displacement and migration all over Latin America. The IRC published a policy brief that incorporates context on the funding for the current crises, as well as the role that host countries play, the status of existing tools, and recommendations to foster international and regional cooperation and funding for a comprehensive humanitarian and refugee response.
Download the full policy brief:
The IRC in Latin America
The IRC is responding across the arc of the crisis in Latin America: delivering a population-based response to the Venezuela crisis in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru as well as through local partners in Venezuela; supporting people at risk in northern Central America (Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador) and along the main migration corridors in Mexico, from the southern to the northern borders.
Currently, the IRC’s programming includes supporting women’s protection and empowerment, addressing prevention and protection of women, girls and members of the LGBTQ+ community who have been survivors of gender-based violence; economic recovery and development; primary, sexual and reproductive health; mental health and psychosocial support; cultural orientation; and access to critical information through InfoPa’lante in Colombia, CuéntaNos in northern Central America and InfoDigna in Mexico, all of them part of the Global Signpost project.
Additionally, after the earthquake that hit Haiti in August 2021, IRC provided funding to support the work of FOSREF, FADHRIS and Kay Fanm, all local organizations implementing activities to satisfy priority needs.