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Cuba is not a State party to international refugee instruments. UNHCR provides international protection to refugees under its mandate.
With support from the government, UNHCR ensures that refugees have access to healthcare and education services. With limited integration opportunities, most refugees are in need of resettlement as their only possible durable solution.
Vulnerabilities of asylum-seekers and refugees have increased due to the COVID-19-related social and economic downturn, among other factors, including shortages of basic items (like food and medicine), affecting refugees and host communities alike.
People UNHCR protects
158 refugees and asylum seekers under UNHCR’s mandate (as of 31 December 2022)
58 per cent of refugees do not have a migratory status granted by the government; 52 per cent of them are women and children
71 people in need of resettlement
**Main nationalities **
Western Sahara, Syria, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan,
Yemen
CONTEXT
In coordination with the government, UNHCR processes asylum claims under its mandate. While refugees and asylum seekers can access free healthcare and education services, people UNHCR protects are not allowed to engage in income-generating activities, which makes them fully dependent on the Agency’s assistance.
During the economic crisis associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, refugees’ situation considerably worsened, with difficulties to access food, hygiene items, and medicines. As a result of UNHCR’s advocacy, refugees and asylum seekers were granted access to the governmental rationing system and the national vaccination programme, on equal footing as nationals.
UNHCR participates in the UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework signed with the Cuban government, as well as in the UN Socio-Economic COVID-19 Response Plan to protect vulnerable groups, including refugees and asylum seekers.