Chapter 5 Venezuela situation In the past few years, the complex socioeconomic and political situation in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has caused more than 1.5 million Venezuelans to move to neighbouring countries and beyond. Their primary destinations were Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, Spain, and the United States of America. According to figures provided by host governments, more than 166,000 Venezuelans lodged new asylum claims since the beginning of 2015, three quarters of which were in 2017. By early 2018, over 500,000 Venezuelans had accessed alternative legal forms of stay under national or regional frameworks, including in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Uruguay. 60 However, the majority find themselves in irregular situations. Without access to a legal status, they are at a higher risk of violence, exploitation, sexual abuse, trafficking, and discrimination. While the responses of States were generous, host communities receiving Venezuelans were also under increasing strain as they sought to Turkey also continued to host an increasing asylumseeker population with 308,900 pending claims at the end of 2017, an increase of 26 per cent over 2016. 61 This figure does not include Syrians who are protected under the country’s Temporary Protection Regulation and do not undergo individual refugee status determination. Other countries with more than 50,000 asylum claims pending at the end of 2017 included South Africa (191,300), Italy (186,600), Brazil (85,700), France (63,100), Egypt (56,600), Kenya (56,500), Austria (56,300), Canada (51,900), and Sweden (51,600). Peru is also noteworthy, as the asylumseeker population increased over eight times from 4,500 at the end of 2016 to 37,800 at the end of 2017, mainly due to the large number of pending claims from Venezuelans. Similar to the previous couple of years, asylumseekers from Afghanistan constituted the largest nationality of origin, with 334,000 pending claims at the end of 2017 compared with 369,000 the previous year. Iraqi asylum-seekers continued to be the second most common nationality and also decreased slightly from 278,300 at end-2016 to 46 extend assistance and services to those arriving. UNHCR is working with governments and other partners across Latin America and the Caribbean to establish a coordinated and comprehensive response to the Venezuela situation. Assessments, profiling, and protection monitoring enabled better understanding of the humanitarian and international protection needs of Venezuelans exiting their country. In addition, UNHCR scaled up its presence in border areas and worked to strengthen asylum and registration systems throughout the region. The Office is engaged in community-based protection approaches and provision of assistance to the most vulnerable. With the support of authorities, partners, and host communities, awareness and solidarity campaigns are being rolled out to combat discrimination and xenophobia. ■ 60 This figure is based on operational data and includes the beginning of 2018. Countries in the region reported 345,600 Venezuelans in the ‘others of concern’ category [see Chapter 7]. 272,600 at end-2017. Of particular note in 2017 has been the increase in Venezuelan asylum-seekers, more than trebling from 45,100 in the previous year to 148,000 by end-2017. Asylum-seekers from Syria have continued to decline, reaching 146,700 at the end of 2017 compared with 184,200 in 2016. Other countries of origin with significant numbers of asylum-seekers awaiting decisions were the DRC (136,200), Ethiopia (133,700), El Salvador (104,900), Nigeria (91,900), China (89,500), and Mexico (85,100). Despite improved statistical reporting on pending asylum applications, the actual number of undecided asylum cases is unknown, as some countries do not report this information. ■ 61 UNHCR in Turkey is supporting the national asylum authority responsible for registration and status determination procedures in line with the national legislation and is conducting refugee status determination for the purpose of resettlement. unhcr > Global trends 2017