Ecuador. César and Yoheglith fled Venezuela with their three kids in October 2018. Living in Ibarra, Ecuador, they all sleep in one room. It's cramped and cold at night, but they feel safe now and are integrating into work and school. © UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo CASE STUDY: The Venezuela situation People are leaving Venezuela for many reasons: violence, insecurity, fear of being targeted for their political opinions (whether real or perceived), shortages of food and medicine, lack of access to social services, and being unable to support themselves and their families. By the end of 2018, more than 3 million Venezuelans had left their homes, travelling mainly towards Latin America and the Caribbean. It is the biggest exodus in the region’s recent history and one of the biggest displacement crises in the world. More than 460,000 Venezuelans have sought asylum, including about 350,000 in 2018 alone [Figure 9]. But asylum procedures in the region are overwhelmed, and to date only 21,000 Venezuelans have been recognized as refugees. 24 In addition, Latin American countries have granted an estimated 1 million residence permits and other forms of legal stay to Venezuelans by the end of 2018, which allow them access to some basic services. In most countries, however, a considerable number of Venezuelans might be in an irregular situation, which exposed them to exploitation and abuse. With an unabated average of up to 5,000 people leaving Venezuela every day, it is estimated that 5 million people could leave the country by the end of 2019. Thousands cross daily into Colombia, while others head towards Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. Still others take dangerous boat journeys to Caribbean islands. Various interconnected factors are causing Venezuelans to leave, but given the deteriorating political, socioeconomic and human rights conditions, it is clear that international protection considerations, according to the refugee criteria unhcr > Global trends 2018