On this page, you will find:

To find organisations working for LGBTQI+ rights, visit our Venezuela LGBTQI+ Resources page.
For Venezuela country of information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents visit our Venezuela COI page. 

Refugee protection

Click here to see the numbers and origins of refugees hosted by Venezuela. 

The following sections contain information on the most important international treaties and agreements of which Venezuela is signatory, as well as national legislation relevant to the protection of refugees.

Venezuela has been a party to the 1967 Protocol on the Status of Refugees since September 1986.

It has not ratified the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the 1951 Convention), the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless persons (the 1954 Convention) or the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (the 1961 Convention)

Legal aid organisations

Website 
Address: Quinta Cirabel, calle 5 con carrera 1, Urbanización Mérida, San Cristobal, Venezuela
Tel/Fax: +58 (276) 80 84 877
Mobile: +58 (416) 97 99 120

The NRC provides legal assistance (legal aid, advocacy) for victims of forced displacement, in particular with regard to housing, land and property rights, and for victims of sexual and gender-based violence. They provide orientation information, counselling and education programmes for displaced children and adolescents, and also promote and advocate for changes in policy to ensure the protection of displaced and indigenous populations. NRC provides legal assistance, usually through individual casework, but it may also entail class action. NRC pursues legal action through all relevant local, national and international legal systems and mechanisms, including customary law, conflict resolution and mediation mechanisms and any other prevalent systems of law – in addition to statutory law and the courts. NRC may provide training in legal issues to target groups and key local actors – to establish a platform of understanding of rights and applicable law, and subsequent legal approaches to key issues.

Website
Address: Boulevard Panteón, Puente Trinidad a Tienda Honda, Edif Centro Plaza Las Mercedes, PB. Local 6 / PO Box 5156, Carmelites 1010-A, Caracas, Venezuela
Tel/Fax: (212) 86 21 011 and 86 06 66 98 62 53 33

Provea aims to protect the rights of the underprivileged through information, campaigning and fighting legal cases, including for refugees.

Website
Address: Av. Luis Roche, Quinta Elsa, Urb. Altamira. Municipio Chacao 1060, Caracas, Venezuela
Tel: +58 212 2647391
Email: venca@unhcr.org

For the latest updates on UNHCR’S work in Venezuela, see here.

Website
Address: Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, Urb. Montalbán, Av. Teherán, Edf. Cincuentenario, piso 5, Caracas 1020, Venezuela.
Tel: +58 21 24 07 44 34
Email: cddhh@ucab.edu.ve

The Centro de Derechos Humanos of the Universidad Católica Andres Bello works in refugee studies in research, teaching and defense of legal cases before international organizations such as the ICHR and the UN.
El Centro de Derechos Humanos de la UCAB trabaja en el área de refugiados en las líneas tradicionales de la academia: investigación, docencia y extensión y además hacemos defensa de casos y acciones ante órganos internacionales (CIDH y ONU) sobre la materia.

Organisations providing other support to refugees

Website
Address: Caracas, Venezuela
Tel : (+58-212) 265.77.40 / 267.83.21 / 267.90.01 / 267.96.83
Fax : (+58-212) 267.51.50
E-Mail: caa_caracas@icrc.org
Media contact person: Ms Irma ALVAREZ
Mobile: (+58 416 618 89 12)
Language spoken: French/Spanish/English

The ICRC regional delegation in Caracas works to mitigate the humanitarian consequences of armed violence in Venezuela. Working with the authorities and the communities it serves, it carries out activities in the areas of health, water and sanitation, economic and food security, dignified management of the dead, protection of detainees and Restoring Family Links. It also promotes international humanitarian law and international standards on the use of force by the armed forces and police.

Website
Address: 1ra. Transversal de La Castellana. Entre Av. Mohedano
y Av. Eugenio Mendoza. Qta. Ana Luisa. 1060
Caracas, Venezuela
Tel:    +58.212 266 41 36, +58.212 265 79 48
Email:  iomcaracas@iom.int

IOM Venezuela implements activities, projects, and programs to provide assistance and technical support on migration-related topics and human rights to the Government, migrants, civil society organizations and other partners.

Thematic Areas:

  • Humanitarian Emergencies
  • Resettlement of Refugees
  • Migrant Assistance and Operations
  • Counter-Trafficking
  • Voluntary Return and Reintegration

Venezuela LGBTQI+ Resources

Find organisations working for refugee LGBTQI+ rights in Venezuela.

Venezuela COI

Find Venezuela Country of Origin information (COI) experts, reports, commentaries, and relevant documents. 

We are always looking to expand the resources on our platform. If you know about relevant resources, or you are aware of organisations and/or individuals to include in our directories, please get in touch.

Last updated May 2023