Page 17 - Preliminary Report on the Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Crisis in the Region

In the case of the homeland card, the Reuters article describes how the system stores details on

each cardholder, such as birthdays, family information, employment and income, property

owned, medical history, state benefits received, presence on social media, membership of

political parties, and electoral participation history. The capture of information on each citizen
on a single database that includes electoral participation as well as eligibility for welfare

programs, suggests that the homeland card is being used or could be used as a tool of social

control to enable discriminatory access to state programs and services based on political
affiliation. In fact this tool has direct consequences on citizens in all areas. For example,

testimonies collected indicate that citizens who are not cardholders are denied access to

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medicines needed to treat chronic conditions.

Based on available evidence and existing testimonies, in our opinion the increase in the use—or
simply the perceived existence—of tools to exert social control strikes fear and intimidates the

Venezuelan population, forcing them to express partisan preferences in order to survive.

Therefore, we consider it an important determinant of the forced migration.

The flow of Venezuelan migrants and financing for receiving countries

As a result of the humanitarian, economic, social, and

As a result of the
political crisis in Venezuela, in 2015 the mass migration of
humanitarian, economic,
social, and political crisis Venezuelans accelerated. Based on the two visits of the
in Venezuela, in 2015 the Working Group to the border at Cúcuta, informal
mass migration of conversations with Venezuelan migrants and refugees, and a
Venezuelans accelerated.
comparative analysis of data, we surmise that, given its

35 Vásquez, Cristóbal. “Maduro y los chinos espían a los venezolanos con el Carné de la Patria,” Caracol Radio,
December 28, 2018, http://caracol.com.co/radio/2018/12/27/internacional/1545936920_263873.html.

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