Is it convenient for Curaçao to grant a temporary permit to Venezuelans?

Photography: Martín Mejía, AP. 

Curaçao is going through one of its most difficult moments in economic terms. There is no doubt about that. That is why many of the citizens turn their face at the slightest suggestion of offering solidarity aid to Venezuelans who, in large numbers, have reached West Indian soil in recent month.

But is it really a fallacy to think about this moment of solidarity with the victims of the catastrophe that exists in Venezuela?

These are some of the reasons why it would be convenient for Curaçao to offer the Venezuelan refugees a temporary permit to stay and work.

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The Social Funds need more income

The cost of public services such as education, health, and safety in a country like Curaçao is, proportionally, enormous. To finance these costs, each citizen of productive age pays a certain amount of taxes. The more workers contribute to the fund, the lower the percentage that each of them has to pay.

But there are two factors in Curaçao that affect the balance year after year.

In the first place, it is known that the amount of the local population (born in Curaçao) is decreasing. This is not only because of the emigration of people to countries such as the Netherlands but this is also caused by a low "fertility rate", which rate refers to the number of children each woman gives birth during their lifetime, which in this case is only 1,7. According to the World Bank, this number is considerably below the necessary number for any country to maintain its stable population (which number is two (2) births per woman) without the intervention of external factors.

Therefore, as a direct result of advances in science, the "Life expectancy" of the local population runs above 78 years and continues increasing.

If we keep these two factors in mind, less local workers each year, that finance the retirement and medical expenses of a growing population of older people, we have as a consequence a budgetary problem.

The best way to balance these accounts, without having to increase the amount of taxes paid by each worker on the island, is to increase the number of people contributing to the social funds. This includes charging taxes to those who do not pay today.

The labor system is already affected

There are many persons on Curaçao who oppose the granting of humanitarian treatment to Venezuelans, saying that Venezuelans could take away their jobs. However, the reality is that the vast majority of Venezuelans are already working on the island. The problem is that by not working legally, they do not contribute to the payment of taxes for the development of the local economy, while at the same time, due to lower wages, employers find more attractive to hire them.

It should be pointed out that, the average age of people who have arrived from Venezuela in recent years is between 25 and 40 years. Those are persons who have already passed their education phase and who are going through their most productive moments of life. This is ideal knowing that they contribute with their taxes, without generating excessive expenses in terms of health or pensions.

A productivity injection

According to the statistics of the United Nations of the year 2015, 3% of the world population consists of migrants. However, their combined contributions to the GDP of the countries where they reside is 9%. This is because migrants, for the most part, are very focused on being productive, since they come from countries with a much more difficult reality than those who live in more stable countries.

Even more favorable is the fact that, according to a statistical study conducted in Curaçao by the International Organization for Migration of the UN, the majority of Venezuelans who are residing irregularly on the island, state that they do not want to be helped in terms of food, housing, safety or health. They only want to obtain their permits to be able to legally work and thus solve for themselves all their economic and social needs.

Another factor that local authorities should pay special attention to is the fact that, according to the same survey, a high percentage of Venezuelans are willing to return to their country as soon as favorable conditions do rise again.

In summary, far most of the Venezuelans that already reside on the island are very productive and work-minded while also focused to return to their country once the living conditions over there have been improved. Perfect candidates for temporary permit measures, especially knowing that it is mostly not the intention to migrate permanently.

It is expensive to keep them out of the legal system.

But let's also talk about the costs of keeping the Venezuelan refugees out of the legal framework of the island.

To keep each Venezuelan in custody in the "Barak of the Undocumented," according to the local Ministry of Justice, it requires about Ang. 350, per person, per day. To this amount should be added the cost of police endeavours that in recent months have been specifically conducted to the detention and deportation of immigrants.

Would it not be better to apply all those resources and efforts in improving the security conditions of the island?

Would not police forces be set in better use, for instance, in preventive patrols, rather than in control operations?

It is a fact that in recent years, many organizations and developed countries have made important donations to address the problem of Venezuelan refugees. These funds have gone mainly to countries such as Colombia and Brazil. This is mainly because these donor organizations and governments support the humanitarian efforts that are being made in those regions.

A good humanitarian management plan for the Venezuelan refugees in Curaçao could without a doubt obtain immediate funding from different organizations linked to the United Nations system, as well as from the most powerful governments in the world.

It is humanly correct

This last reason for establishing humanitarian management in favor of refugees is undoubtedly the main reason. It is a moral obligation; it is what we must do as human beings helping people fleeing a crisis of such magnitude.

The people who are leaving Venezuela at present do not do it simply because they look for better economic and/or social possibilities. They are simply to survive with their families, given that they leave a territory that even without being at war, presents all the characteristics associated with an armed conflict.

A few years ago, nobody could imagine that a situation like this could arise in a country with as much wealth as Venezuela. However, in a very few years, we have witnessed the complete collapse of the economy and all the basic services systems in Venezuela, as well as the dramatic deterioration of respect for the human rights of its citizens.

Is Curaçao safe from a similar landslide that Venezuela presently is going through?

Do we think that this can never happen on ‘dushi’ Curaçao?

What should we expect from the international community in general, and from neighboring countries in particular, if something similar happens to us?

The eyes of the world are currently focused on Venezuela and its migration crisis.  Several agencies of the United Nations frequently publish reports about Venezuelan exodus, and what is mentioned in those reports is mostly not very flattering for Curacao.

Humanity in its highest form, understands that a crisis like the one that the Venezuelan migrants are experiencing at the moment can happen all over the world for it is connected to the nature of the human species. Curacao is also not excluded from such a possible menace.

Shouldn't we bear such in mind when addressing the Venezuelan crisis and the cruel migrant-effects it has been causing?

English translation by: Vanessa Patrick