Last month, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) produced a worrying “situational update” on the implications of the accelerating numbers of Venezuelans arriving in Trinidad, Brazil and Colombia.
The Geneva-based body said that over 40,000 Venezuelans are now present in Trinidad and Tobago, and there are around 20,000 to 30,000 in Brazil’s Roraima province, which borders Venezuela. It also noted that 100,000 Venezuelans have sought refuge in Colombia in the previous six months, with vastly larger numbers having arrived previously. The report did not include Guyana, or Curaçao, where local media coverage and anecdotal evidence indicates a rapid increase in the number of arrivals.