Human Rights Watch welcomes the recent Brazilian Supreme Court ruling that denied a request by the Roraima state government to temporarily close the border with Venezuela. The court argued that “the indiscriminate use of measures aimed at restricting irregular migration” may deprive people of accessing the asylum procedure, which undermines Brazil’s international obligations and constitutional due process standards.
The political, economic, human rights, and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela creates a mix of factors that cause Venezuelans to leave and makes them unable or unwilling to return. Some factors alone may qualify a person for refugee status, while for others the cumulative impact of various factors could give rise to a valid claim for refugee status.
Brazilian authorities have made significant efforts to respond to the influx of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing the humanitarian crisis and persecution in their home country, and they should not turn their back on Venezuelans fleeing these conditions.