The European Union (EU) registered in February 2019 a record of asylum seekers from Latin America and the Caribbean since 2014. In addition, the report of the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) indicates that "Venezuela has become the second country of origin of applicants," said the European Office, stating that the rate of acceptance of applications for protection of Venezuelans was 48% in the last 6 months.

Asylum seekers from Latin America and the Caribbean in February 2019: Venezuela (3,995), Colombians (1,937), El Salvador (731), Nicaragua (616), Honduras (592), Haiti (351), Peru (323), Cuba (112) and Guatemala (73).

According to a statement, EASO "in February 2019, some 57,000 applications for international protection were filed" in the countries of the European Union, as well as in Norway and Switzerland, which represents an increase of about 11,000 compared to the same month of the previous year.

In 2018, some 22,000 Venezuelans, whose country is plunged into a serious political, economic and humanitarian crisis, called for international protection in the EU, mainly in Spain.

Latin American countries, on the other hand, continue to receive a majority of the 2.7 million Venezuelans who have left the country since 2015, according to United Nations refugee agencies (UNHCR) and migration (IOM).

SL/ iciHaiti