‘’Receiving Our Venezuelan Brothers”: understanding responses to displaced venezuelans in Colombia and Brazil (2015-2020) | ‘’Recebendo nossos irmãos venezuelanos”: entendendo respostas para deslocados venezuelanos na Colômbia e no Brasil (2015-2020)

Abstract

The issue of displaced Venezuelans has been considerably politicized by host governments in Colombia and Brazil, who often refer to this population as their ‘’Venezuelan brothers’’ and frame their response as a compassionate act. Whilst maintaining ‘open door’ policies for this population, Colombia and Brazil have also created pathways to regularize their stay. Nevertheless, only Brazil chose to recognize Venezuelans as refugees. As elucidated in this article, responses to asylumseekers arriving en masse tend to be impacted by a wide range of determinants at both international and domestic levels. Hence, this article aims to shine a light on the politics of asylum in Colombia and Brazil, looking to understand the factors driving their respective responses to displaced Venezuelans.