South America & the Caribbean
At the Global Council, we are dedicated to advancing the rights of refugees and migrants across South America and the Caribbean.
Join this network
Regional context
Venezuela and Haiti face serious crises that have provoked massive displacement. With more than 7.24 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and an increase in crossings through the dangerous Darien without effective response plans. Violence, political crisis, and climate change in both countries, along with the rise of organized crime, aggravate the situation, and further migration flows are expected in 2024. Durable solutions and protection for those fleeing these crises are urgently needed.
The Network
The South America and Caribbean network was founded following the Council’s regional consultation held in Bogota, Columbia in 2023 with co-hosts Refugios Unidos. Through convening members at a regional level, the aim of the network is to be able to identify the key issues facing refugees and migrants in the South America and Caribbean region with the practitioners working there. We work alongside these experts to tackle these issues collectively, centring those affected. We support a growing community of over X members based in the region with their community and strategy development, litigation and advocacy, and training needs.
As a member of the network, you can connect and collaborate with other members in the region via a dedicated listserv and whatsapp group. Through these platforms you can share real-time updates and questions, identify opportunities for support and collaboration, and distribute important news and events.
Regional Work
Our work across this region is split into three core workstrands:
Community-Building & Strategy Formation
Over the course of the next few years, Silvia will work with members in the region to co-create a regional strategy for advancing refugee and migrant rights. Some of the core priorities we are currently working on include:
- Strategic advocacy that prioritizes expediting refugee recognition, finding durable solutions, implementing documentation and regularization policies, and preventing statelessness by ensuring nationality rights.
- Supporting organizations with resources and training to enhance strategic litigation, including access to international courts.
- Promoting leadership from those with lived experience of human mobility, providing a platform to amplify their work.
- Advocating for the rights of people displaced by climate events, especially in the vulnerable Caribbean region.
Technical Assistance
The Council provides free technical assistance to members working on litigation in national, regional, and global forums to protect refugees and migrants’ rights. This includes case strategy development, drafting legal arguments, research, evidence-gathering and more. Our collaborations, which bring together community organizations, refugee leaders, and lawyers, have delivered justice for thousands of refugees and migrants in courts across the world.
See our latest successes and impact in the Latest Regional Highlights section below.
Capacity Building
We provide tailored training and resources to enable members in the region to increase their impact, think ahead and pivot quickly to tackle new challenges. Types of assistance we provide include: responding to members’ requests to run training on specific issues (such as challenging externalization policies) or legal strategies (such as how to best use regional court mechanisms) or skills (such as how to engage with the media).
Look back at the latest training we have run for our Americas members in the Latest Regional Highlights section below.
Regional litigator
Silvia Serna
With experience and passion for defending human rights, Silvia is currently supporting the Council’s South America and Caribbean network, in addition to leading the Central America and Mexico network. In collaboration with members of the network, she identifies high impact strategic litigation and advocacy to advance the rights of forcibly displaced people across the region.
Get in touchRequest support in your region
Get supportMembers of the GSLC in South America & the Caribbean
Select the category to see the members
Founding Members