Venezuelans’ Requests for Asylum in Brazil Grow 245 Percent in One Year

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Data presented by the Ministry of Justice and Public Security on Thursday, July 25th, show that the number of Venezuelan refugee applications to Brazil exploded from 2017 to 2018, jumping from 17,685 to 61,681, an increase of 245 percent.

The “Asylum in Figures” report also shows that 81 percent of all Venezuelan asylum applications to Brazil in 2018 were submitted in the state of Roraima, according to a Globo news website. The state received 63 percent of new asylum applications last year.

Haiti (7,030), Cuba (2,749) and China (1,450) complete the list of the four nations with the highest number of applications in 2018. The report also points out that Brazil has received 206,737 asylum applications over the past eight years. There were 80,057 in 2018, compared to 33,866 in 2017.

According to the survey, three out of four requests for acknowledgment of refugee status filed last year came from Venezuelans. Currently, 52 percent of the applications in progress come from the neighboring country.

In June 2019, it was estimated that four million Venezuelans had fled their country as a result of the humanitarian crisis the country is undergoing.

The figures are compiled and organized by the Ministry of Justice’s general coordination for the national refugee committee in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).