Invisible or ignored? COVID-19 and Venezuelan asylum seekers in Peru

Marta Castro Padrón. Coordinadora de investigación, Equilibrium Centro para el Desarrollo Económico (Equilibrium CenDE) (Lima, Perú). mcastro@equilibriumbdc.com.

Luisa Feline Freier. Profesora asociada de Ciencias Sociales y Políticas, Universidad del Pacífico (Lima, Perú). lf.freierd@up.edu.pe. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4653-4812

Peru receives the second-highest number of Venezuelans after Colombia and more Venezuelan asylum seekers than any other country in the world. This article explores how COVID-19 has affected the living conditions of this group in Peru. The role of the Peruvian state in producing irregularity is analysed, as well as how this condition exacerbates the Venezuelan population’s socioeconomic vulnerability. The findings show the state’s active participation in producing this irregularity, mainly by restricting access to the refugee system and failing to consider applying the expanded definition of the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, which has increased socioeconomic vulnerability, especially during the pandemic.

Keywords: asylum seekers, COVID-19, Peru, Latin America, irregularity, vulnerability, Global South 

How to cite this article: Castro Padrón, Marta y Freier, Luisa Feline. «¿Invisibles o invisibilizados? La COVID-19 y los solicitantes de refugio venezolanos en Perú». Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals, n.º 129 (diciembre de 2021), p. 31-35. DOI: doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2021.129.3.31

Revista CIDOB d’Afers Internacionals n.º 129, p. 31-55
Quadrimestral (October-December 2021)
ISSN:1133-6595 | E-ISSN:2013-035X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.24241/rcai.2021.129.3.31

Reception date: 12.04.21 ; Acceptance date: 05.10.21 

>> The full text articles are available in Spanish language, although in this issue some of them are also available in English language.