Operations

273	Number of personnel (international and national)
36	Number of offices
USD 92.4 Mio	Overall funding requirements (ExCom-approved 2016 budget)

A. Operational Environment and Strategy

The foundations are being laid for implementation over the next 10 years of the Brazil Plan of Action (BPA), adopted in December 2014 by Latin American and Caribbean countries and territories.This includes developing national plans of actions in a number of countries, and a regional plan of action being introduced by the Regional Forum of National Refugee Commissions in MERCOSUR.
 
El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras continue to be affected by violence perpetrated by transnational criminal groups, posing serious risks to local population, and resulting in forced displacement within and across national borders. In 2014, some 82,000 people were returned back to Honduras and some 92,000 to Guatemala. UNHCR’s interventions, framed under the BPA, target three population groups of concern: asylum-seekers and refugees, including those in transit; returned persons with protection needs; and internally displaced persons. Interventions focus on documentation and raising awareness about the existing protection crisis; institution building; and the establishment/strengthening of protection responses. UNHCR plans to significantly scale up its response in 2016 as part of an inter-agency approach to address to growing needs.
 
In Mexico, the number of asylum claims has tripled since 2011, due to arrivals from the Northern Triangle of Central America (NTCA). More than 80 per cent of claimants are from El Salvador and Honduras, with Guatemala ranked third. Almost a third of people from the NTCA who apply for refugee status in Mexico are recognized as refugees. However, many people who have fled violence in NTCA are detained and returned from Mexico, with limited advice about their right to seek asylum. By the third quarter of 2015, over 55,000 unaccompanied children and children travelling with their families from the NTCA had been apprehended at the common border of the United States of America and Mexico, half the number compared to the same period in 2014. The decline is mainly due to the apprehension and detention by Mexico of some 12,800 children in the first half of 2015. UNHCR welcomes and supports Mexico’s efforts to reinforce its asylum system, consistent with its tradition of solidarity with those fleeing violence and persecution.  

The Southern Cone of Latin America presents a unique opportunity to consolidate an effective protection space in the subregion, including asylum systems with high protection standards. UNHCR will work with governments to develop comprehensive solutions for refugees by supporting public policies facilitating local integration, as well as more sustainable resettlement initiatives and other forms of admission for the benefit of refugees and others in need of international protection from the Middle East and elsewhere. 

B. Response and Implementation

Operations in Colombia and Ecuador are presented in separate country chapters. For other countries where UNHCR operates in the subregion, please see below.
 
In its response to forced displacement in the NTCA, UNHCR will continue to bolster border monitoring and expand protection networks in Guatemala, Honduras and southern Mexico. The Office will further strengthen its presence in the NTCA and southern Mexico in response to growing needs, including by: increasing protection interventions for unaccompanied children in border and transit areas; and, in coordination with other international organizations, identifying and evaluating protection mechanisms in countries of origin in support of national governments and civil society organizations.
 
In Costa Rica, the focus will continue to be on solutions for Colombian refugees, as well as on the increasing number of refugees from Central America. UNHCR welcomes recent decisions confirming the commitment of the Government to become a champion of sustainable local integration within the terms of the BPA.  
 
In Panama, UNHCR will continue to work with the Government to develop the asylum system through the Quality Assurance Initiative, and to expand opportunities for livelihoods and l integration, while also providing technical support and advice in the context of targeted resettlement interventions.
 
In the Southern Cone of Latin America, UNHCR is partnering with MERCOSUR countries to foster regionally-harmonized asylum systems, based on the principles of the Inter-American Human Rights System. Following the example of Uruguay – which has received a first group of Syrian refugee families from Lebanon – new resettlement programmes are being explored by Chile and Brazil, with the aim of providing protection and solutions to other vulnerable refugees from the Middle East. The humanitarian visa programmes – developed by Brazil and Argentina – are further examples of pragmatic tools to support global refugee protection efforts for victims from the Syria conflict.
 
In Venezuela, a protection and solutions strategy under development will facilitate the acquisition of documents by Colombian asylum-seekers to improve their access to basic services and employment. The strategy further aims to assist the authorities to ensure that refugees and people in a refugee-like situation enjoy protection and are able to pursue solutions. This strategy will complement those being implemented in Colombia and Ecuador to encourage a more comprehensive approach to solutions in the region.