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OAS Study Highlights Growing Extracontinental Immigration in Latin America

There is a growing number of extracontinental immigrants in Latin America, mainly from Africa and Asia, according to the preliminary results of a survey published during a workshop of the Special Committee on Migration Issues (known by its Spanish acronym, CEAM) of the Organization of American States (OAS). The report qualifies as “new and growing” the recent phenomenon of irregular extracontinental immigration in various countries of the region and summarizes some of the national immigration policies that Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Guatemala and Mexico have developed to address it.

The complete report in Spanish may be found here.For more information, please visit the OAS Website at here.

The results, obtained from answers submitted by the above-mentioned countries to a survey sent by the CEAM in collaboration with the Migration and Development Program (MiDE) of the OAS Department of Social Development and Employment, show that extracontinental immigrants without legal status are mainly from the African nations Eritrea, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Somalia, and the Asian nations China, Bangladesh and Nepal.

Though currently it is difficult to produce reliable numbers or estimates, the study emphasizes the fact that the number of extrarregional immigrants without legal status is growing; that international criminal groups devoted to the illegal trafficking of migrants and to human trafficking have become stronger and more consolidated; and that immigration comes increasingly from a variety of African countries.

The numbers provided by countries that responded to the OAS survey are based on asylum requests, detentions by immigration authorities, and requests for temporary and transitional residence granted to immigrants. The OAS hopes to receive information from countries that have not yet responded to the survey to complete its analysis.

Araceli Azuara, MiDE Coordinator, emphasized that “these migration flows must be analyzed from an integral perspective, taking into account the pertinent aspects of international law, in particular the international law of human rights, and with the aim of fomenting international cooperation, taking into account its political, social, economic, cultural, integrational, security, labor and regulatory aspects, as established by the mandate of the CEAM.”

Among the main problems present in one or more of the surveyed countries are the following: a lack of resources to repatriate extracontinental immigrants without legal status; that African nationals who are granted refugee status do not remain in the country but leave and sell or give away their documents to trafficking networks; the growing activity of international networks involved in human trafficking, kidnapping and the trafficking of illegal migrants; and the efficiency of the state in responding promptly to cases involving underage victims and victims of human trafficking.

Nevertheless, the survey also reveals that affected countries already have begun to build mechanisms and policies oriented toward responding quickly and efficiently to the growing phenomenon of extracontinental immigration, including measures for international cooperation, training and reforms to current immigration laws.

The CEAM workshop, titled, “Extracontinental Migration in the Americas,” was held yesterday at OAS headquarters in Washington, D.C., and was organized with the collaboration of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM). It featured experts on migration issues from the UNHCR, the IOM, Mexico’s National Migration Institute (INM), the General Direction for Migration and Immigration of Costa Rica, Panama’s National Immigration Service, the National Commission for Refugees of Argentina and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

For more information, please visit the OAS Website at www.oas.org.

Reference: E-109/10