Trinidad and Tobago — Monitoring Venezuelan Citizens Presence, (November - December 2023)

Migratory flows from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (hereinafter, Venezuela) into Trinidad and Tobago have shown unprecedented increases since 2018. In 2019, the Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (GORTT) initiated a Venezuelan Migrant Registration Framework (MRF), with subsequent re-registration exercises in 2021 and 2023. There was a total of 16, 523 registrants, which effectively legitimized their status and facilitated their access to legal employment opportunities. In that same year, the GORTT also instituted visa requirements for Venezuelan nationals to enter or transit Trinidad and Tobago.

Four years later, reports suggest an estimated total of 38,000 Venezuelan refugees and migrants will reside in Trinidad and Tobago by the end of 2023.1 Accordingly, geographic proximity and evolving political and socio-economic realities continue to motivate migration flows to Trinidad and Tobago. Notwithstanding, local authorities and past Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) reports have confirmed increased irregular entries.

Given these dynamics, the 2023 DTM maintains the timely and consistent annual opportunity to explore the variable situation of Venezuelan nationals as they attempt to address their socio-economic vulnerabilities and explore sustainable livelihoods within Trinidad and Tobago. The International Organization for Migration’s (IOM’s) DTM is a system to track and monitor displacement and population mobility. It is designed to capture, process, and disseminate critical multi-layered information on the movement, challenges, and needs of displaced and mobile populations, regularly and systematically. Hence, the DTM affords decision-makers and responders evidence-based insights to guide specific interventions to targeted vulnerable populations.

In this 2023 DTM edition, a total of 1,395 Venezuelan nationals were surveyed, between November and December 2023. The areas with the highest number of respondents were Chaguanas, Tunapuna/Piarco, and Penal/Debe.