At least 5,000 Cubans are in “migratory limbo” in Uruguay

AREQUIPA, Peru – At least 5,000 Cubans are in “immigration limbo” in Uruguay as they do not have refugee status and cannot renounce their refugee application to process permanent residence.

This was indicated by organizations that bring together Cuban migrants in the South American country, cited in a report published by the newspaper The country.

According to a local newspaper report The ObserverUruguay closed the year 2023 with 24,193 accumulated refugee applications, pending resolution.

Last year alone, 9,129 people requested refuge in Uruguayan territory, of which 7,293 were Cuban. “The system collapsed,” says the text based on statistics from the Refugee Commission.

While their cases are not resolved, Cubans receive a provisional document for two years, with which they can work, access health and education services. A couple of years is also the average wait for the interview with the refugee applicant.

The document in question, however, does not enable the migrant to family reunification, as is the wish of many Cubans outside the Island.

Faced with this scenario, many migrants choose to renounce their request for refuge and seek to apply for permanent residence.

Omar Paganini, Minister of Foreign Affairs in Uruguay, explained to the Canal 12 that a very high number of refugee applications are being rejected because “many people” come for economic reasons, especially from Cuba, request refuge for political reasons [como lo exige la ley] “and it is not appropriate to grant it.”

According to the owner, the authorities are working to find a solution for those who are not entitled to shelter.

To obtain this type of residence, migrants must present documentation with the corresponding consular visa, a requirement that Cubans met by traveling to a Uruguayan consulate in Brazil. However, recent restrictions have made that practice impossible.

In this regard, a Cuban migrant identified by El País as Milagros Rodríguez, asks along with other compatriots that the State of Uruguay exempt from visas those who have lived in that country for a reasonable amount of time, as has already happened during the covid-19 pandemic. .

“An exemption from that visa or another solution that is definitive,” Rodríguez highlighted.

With the aim of solving the immigration obstacle, the Cubans made a publication on the Change.org platform addressed to the Government of Luis Lacalle Pou and parliamentarians in general.

“We are already in Uruguay, we already work for Uruguay (…) why you have to be special to legally reside in a country that has already welcomed us,” states the text of the initiative.

According to preliminary data from the 2023 census, nearly 62,000 people born abroad live in Uruguay, of which 12,000 are Cuban.

In the midst of the largest exodus in the history of the Island, Cuban organizations estimate that the number of compatriots on Uruguayan soil has doubled in recent times.

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