Stuck in a Caribbean deadlock. The entrapment of Venezuelans refugees in the Kingdom of the Netherlands

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2019-10-22

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en

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The collapse of the Venezuelan economy as a result of years of mismanagement has unleashed a chain of devastating events. Curacao, on just 60 kilometres north of Venezuela, has seen a relatively high number of refugees arriving. Their reaction to the increased arrival has been deplorable, and many Venezuelans are being detained as a first step towards certain deportation. The situation on the outer borders of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is unique as Curacao only gained their autonomous status in 2010 and has never experienced a similar situation. The Netherlands has held on to their position claiming immigration is an internal affair and Curacao on the other hand, is not willing to arrange a humanitarian response to the immigration crisis, and uses migration-framing to legitimise this response. As a result of this combined approach the situation got stuck in a deadlock. Although academic interest is increasing in the crisis, most literature focusses on more prominent neighbouring countries of Venezuela. The scope of this research does not only focus on a migration dilemma, but it also digs deeper into a complicated relationship between former colonial power, and a newly autonomous sub-national country.

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Faculteit der Managementwetenschappen

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