Venezuelan Migration: Is the Western Hemisphere Prepared for a Refugee Crisis?

Abstract

Like many aspects of the crisis in Venezuela, migration troubles have already begun and could become far worse. Apocalyptic levels of violent crime, food and medicine shortages, and government repression have been pushing Venezuelans out for years. That steady migration has been largely overlooked; it is too gradual to draw headlines, and it is understandably overshadowed by the millions of Syrian refugees fleeing civil war, and more recently, the hundreds of thousands of Rohingya escaping Myanmar for Bangladesh. But of all the troubling aspects of Venezuela’s meltdown, it is the prospect of a refugee crisis that keeps US national security professionals up at night. As Venezuela struggles to pay its creditors, observers are watching for signs of a mass exodus, and wondering whether the international community has the wherewithal to handle yet another migration nightmare.