Venezuelans wait outside the Federal Police office in the Brazilian border city of Pacaraima. The office is responsible for receiving Venezuelans seeking asylum or special permits to stay in Brazil. © UNHCR/Reynesson Damasceno

Venezuelans are fleeing their country in record numbers. This is Latin America’s worst-ever refugee crisis

Latin America is experiencing its worst-ever refugee crisis. By most estimates, several thousands of Venezuelans are fleeing the country every single day.  In recent weeks the pace and scale of this refugee crisis has sharply increased. There is no end in sight.

My guest today, Andrei Serbin Pont, explains why Venezuelans are leaving their country in such profound numbers. He is the research director of the regional think tank Cries and recently undertook a study of the Venezuelan refugee crisis with the Stanley Foundation

As Andrei explains, most of these refugees are fleeing to Colombia and Brazil and those countries are having a difficult time handling the influx. Still, many are fleeing elsewhere, including to nearby Caribbean Islands which have virtually no capacity to handle a sharp increase in population. The bottom line is that this is becoming a very intense regional crisis and it is accelerating.

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