The Latin American states have been facing social and economic devastation from times immemorial, primarily owing to their long history of colonial subjugation. And in the current times the result of this devastated condition is brought out in the form of large-scale population migration. One such case is the Latin American country of Venezuela, from where a large number of the population migrated to Peru in an attempt to escape the poor conditions of their country.
What Happened In Peru?
Jorge Gonzales and his wife, Kenia, carrying their boys, wait in line for breakfast, after crossing the border into Peru on Friday before the deadline for new regulations that demand passports from migrants. Photo Courtesy by pressherald.com
However, upon arrival in Peru, which had opened up its borders to a large number of such refugees. But since the scale of refugee migration in Latin America is one of the single largest in modern history, this also ended up destroying the livelihoods of the people of Peru. Most of the migrants were once again left without jobs or were severely underpaid for their services. People with professional medical and engineering degrees were being forced to serve as waiters and cleaners, and some were being forced to work up to 12 hours a day just to have enough money for food and shelter.
Peru is a rather small country of which a large part of the community is built up by migrated Venezuelans. However, with the numbers rising by another 300,000 this year, there have been resentment among the locals regarding the refugee intake, and as a result strains of racism towards Venezuelans have sprung up within the locals of Peru, which is also the case with Brazil.
Government’s Role
The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has taken up a repartition policy according to which the migrants who now come back to the country will be provided jobs in government sectors. While opposing politicians are calling it a bluff, thousands of Venezuelan migrants from all over the world and Peru are currently lined up outside airports and embassies trying to find a way back home to their motherland.