No home away from home
Forced to flee their homeland, Venezuelan refugees and migrants now face widespread risk of eviction and homelessness in their new country
The outflow of Venezuelans
Since 2018, Latin America has become stage to one of the largest displacement crises in the world. More than three years on, Venezuelans are still leaving their homes to escape violence and insecurity, as well as the lack of medicine, food and basic services.
As of mid-2021, there are over 5.9 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants worldwide. More than 80 per cent, or 4.8 million, are in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Displacement from Venezuela has increased fourfold since 2018, with Colombia and Peru hosting the majority of refugees and migrants.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has further aggravated the already dire living conditions of refugees and migrants from Venezuela. In addition to the grave health risks (…) the COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread economic disruptions and exacerbated protection concerns” – Dr. Eduardo Stein, Joint UNHCR-IOM Special Representative for Venezuelan refugees and migrants
Latin American countries quickly put in place measures to curb the spread of COVID-19. While these aimed to improve the public health situation, they also impacted negatively on the livelihoods of many households, hitting refugees and migrants particularly hard. With no savings or social safety nets, the drastic fall in jobs and job opportunities meant that Venezuelan families were unable to meet their basic needs, including rent.
Venezuelan asylum-seeker family without income after new job opportunity in Santiago disappeared due to the coronavirus emergency. © UNHCR/Hugo Fuentes
First displaced, then evicted
Between October and November 2020, the Regional Protection Sector of the Interagency Platform for the response to refugees and migrants from Venezuela (R4V)* interviewed just over 1,200 households** already evicted and at risk of eviction. The survey – conducted mainly in Colombia, Peru and Ecuador but also Brazil, Panama, Dominican Republic and Guyana – found that 42 per cent of those interviewed had been evicted. Of those who hadn’t, 72 per cent were at risk of eviction, meaning they had received an eviction notice, which hadn't yet been carried out.
Where do Venezuelan refugees and migrants live?
In contrast to many other large-scale displacement situations where people are hosted in camps, Venezuelan refugees and migrants seek alternative shelter options such as rentals, public spaces or abandoned properties.
Among survey respondents, 89 per cent were either renting a room or an apartment, many without documentation, formal tenancy agreements and knowledge of their rights, increasing their susceptibility to forced evictions.
Reasons for eviction
In the context of the pandemic, existing challenges intensified. Faced with lockdowns and loss of jobs, refugees and migrants were unable to pay rent and faced growing threats of eviction throughout 2020.
The impact
The effects of eviction can be devastating: 75 per cent of respondents in the R4V survey identified homelessness as the main consequence, meaning that many families are now living on the streets, and many at risk would likely meet the same fate if ultimately evicted.
Increased risk of COVID-19 contagion, often owing to crowded and sub-standard living conditions, was also a common consequence identified by survey respondents. People looking for more affordable housing often end up in high-density, low-income areas – many lacking basic infrastructure and services like water and sanitation – and in overcrowded dwellings.
Such areas are also more likely to be in places where crime and violence are more prevalent, posing an additional risk to people in an already vulnerable situation.
In general, evictions come associated with multiple risks. These include exploitation and abuse by landlords, violence, children dropping out of school or being recruited by armed groups and organized crime in some contexts, as well as repeated evictions.
Three Venezuelan people and baby evicted from their house Soacha, a neighboring and working-class town in the south of Bogotá. ©NRC, Nadège Mazars
The additional burden on women
Refugee and migrant women face additional threats and challenges. Some 80 per cent of survey respondents who had been evicted were women, of which 22 per cent were pregnant or breastfeeding. What is more, among evicted women 55 per cent were the family's breadwinner. Among women at risk of eviction, 58 per cent were also single heads of their household.
Female-headed households in displacement situations are often more susceptible to discrimination, lack of access to employment or assistance, and gender-based violence - particularly in more patriarchal societies.
Mother of three left Venezuela four months ago and scrapes out a living by begging on the streets. ©Plan International
Challenges faced by female-headed households become even greater when combined with particular needs requiring specific assistance, such as chronic diseases, single parenting, disabilities, or the pressure of supporting a large family. Among survey respondents, nearly one-third of families evicted or at risk of eviction with female breadwinners had three or more children.
Getting help
Only 34 per cent of evicted households interviewed and 22 per cent at risk had received some form of assistance to prevent eviction.
Many Venezuelan families lack of proper rental agreements and legal assistance for refugees and migrants facing eviction has been limited. Only 15 per cent of survey respondents said they had been given legal advice Other types of critical assistance or other types such as temporary housing arrangements or rental subsidies remained very limited.
When providing help to those evicted or at risk of eviction, there may be specific needs to consider: they belong to minority or indigenous communities? Does the household include people with disabilities? Such factors bring their own protection risks.
Among survey respondents, 13 per cent of households had a family member with a chronic disease and no access to treatment, while 10 per cent had a family member with a physical disability. Also 17 per cent of households were headed by a single parent with underaged children.
Mitigating risks
What can national authorities and organizations do?
- In informal settlements, local authorities must ensure that human rights are respected, and that lack of documentation or regularized migratory status does not increase the risk of eviction or generate pressure or intimidation.
- State control bodies, such as Ombudsman’s offices, Human Rights or Public Defense offices, can provide guidance to Venezuelan refugees and migrants on the scope and implications of housing agreements they sign. They can also provide training to public officials on the right of refugees and migrants to adequate housing, prohibition of forced evictions and mediation techniques in cases of conflict.
- Authorities should aim to design, disseminate and implement guidelines and protocols to facilitate the access of refugees and migrants to the justice system, with special emphasis on housing rights and the prohibition of forced evictions.
What can civil society members such as grassroots or faith-based organizations and the international community do?
- International cooperation and donor countries could allocate resources specifically to promote the right to adequate housing, either by facilitating access to it or guaranteeing the rights of Venezuelans at risk of eviction.
What can Venezuelan refugees and migrants and their organizations do?
- Focus assistance on families that have been evicted and those at imminent risk of eviction as a priority, as well as those facing multiple challenges linked to armed groups and organized crime, mental health, threats and/or intimidation.
Finding long-term solutions
The objective of humanitarian assistance to displaced populations is to find “durable solutions” that provide long-term answers to humanitarian challenges. These include being relocated elsewhere (resettlement), safely and voluntarily returning home (voluntary repatriation/return) or preparing for a permanent stay in the host country or area (local integration).
In the Protection Sector/R4V survey with Venezuelan refugees and migrants, between 60 and 70 per cent declared having no intention to leave the host country despite having been evicted or facing the risk of eviction.
With only 9 per cent of survey respondents considering return a viable option after being evicted, local integration stands out as the preferred form of long-term solution - and formalizing housing arrangements is a key step towards it.
Steps to integration
Risks associated with evictions tend to be even higher for those with irregular status in a host country, as they are usually reluctant to ask the authorities for help or information. Therefore, seeking regularization of status is also an important step towards facilitating integration and mitigating risks.
Formalizing rental agreements alone does not solve everything, however. As we’ve seen before, the risk of eviction is associated with other issues, notably income, while those in precarious situations may lack access to basic services or face health risks and threats to their personal safety.
Addressing the problem of eviction thus requires a comprehensive and intersectoral approach, that maintains human rights at the center of every decision and keeps everyone informed and engaged short and long term.
Help mitigate the risk of eviction!
- Go to https://www.r4v.info/en/evictiontools and check the regional toolbox for the mitigation on evictions risk - use it and spread the word!
- Advocate within your organization for the inclusion of mitigation measures in planning and programming, and for projects that support adequate housing.
- Promote sufficient resource allocation for responding to eviction-related issues as well as preventing homelessness among Venezuelan refugees and migrants.
