COMMENTARY
SURVIVING OVERLAPPING PRECARITY IN A
‘GIGANTIC HELLHOLE’: A CASE STUDY OF
VENEZUELAN LGBTQI+ ASYLUM SEEKERS AND
UNDOCUMENTED MIGRANTS IN BRAZIL AMID
COVID-19
YVONNE SU, * TYLER VALIQUETTE ∗∗ AND YURIKO COWPER-SMITH***
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction........................................................................................................... 155
Lack of Livelihood, Mounting Mental Health Issues and Uncertain Status ......... 157
Undocumented Migrants, Trochas and Precarious Belonging.............................. 159
Recommendations from LGBTQI+ Asylum Seekers and Undocumented Migrants
.............................................................................................................................. 159
A Better Supporting Refugees During the Pandemic: What Can the
Humanitarian Sector and the Government Do to Improve their Responses?
.................................................................................................................. 160
B Lessons for the Future: Access to Documentation and Healthcare .......... 160
The Link between Being Undocumented and Statelessness ................................. 160
Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 161
INTRODUCTION
As COVID-19 infection rates grew exponentially in Latin America, countries
closed their borders in an attempt to stop the virus. But such measures have put
migrants, asylum seekers and other forcibly displaced persons at more risk. For
highly precarious groups, such as Venezuelan migrants and asylum seekers in
Brazil, who were already facing a multitude of challenges before the pandemic,
COVID-19 is multiplying the threats. 1
The closed borders have been a convenient cover for a growing humanitarian
crisis as people are forced to move ‘illegally’ through dangerous paths. 2 As
migration continues, the situation along the Brazilian–Venezuelan border has
*
Dr Yvonne Su is an assistant professor in the Department of Equity Studies at York
University. She researches forced migration, refugee protection and inequality.
∗∗ Tyler Valiquette is based in Brasilia and holds a MA in Political Science from the University
of Guelph. He is a researcher on LGBTQI+ and refugee rights focusing on local, national
and international responses.
*** Dr Yuriko Cowper-Smith holds a PhD in Political Science from the University of Guelph.
She researches diaspora-led social movements, forced migration, statelessness, and
genocide.
1
Yvonne Su, Yuriko Cowper-Smith and Tyler Valiquette, ‘LGBTQI+ Populations Face
Unique Challenges During Pandemic’, Policy Options (online, 24 Jul 2020)
<https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/july-2020/lgbtqi-populations-face-uniquechallenges-during-pandemic/?fbclid=IwAR3m5tUjNoqNjBafLMttQHtE2aCBw_goQIqkpxv8NyqHkjN-T_3Yd9jzKs>.
2
Interview with Emilio Felix (Tyler Valiquette, Zoom, 5 March 2021).