В Кюрасао насчитывают 6903 венесуэльских беженцев и мигрантов, однако точных данных о населении нет

WILLEMSTAD – How many Venezuelans actually live in Curaçao? The figure most frequently cited today is 6,903, but that number is not the result of an official population count. It is an estimate produced by the regional refugee and migrant platform R4V. R4V, which brings together organizations including the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), estimated in August 2025 that 6,903 Venezuelan refugees and migrants were living in Curaçao. The same figure appeared again in its November regional update. The organization acknowledges that no complete and up-to-date registration exists for Curaçao. Its estimate therefore starts with the 2023 Census and applies adjustments for people believed to have been missed and for subsequent migration. According to the 2023 Census, 4,263 Curaçao residents were born in Venezuela. That represented a substantial increase from 2011, when the Central Bureau of Statistics counted 1,691 Venezuela-born residents. But country of birth is not the same as nationality. The 2023 Census separately recorded 3,479 residents with Venezuelan nationality. The difference is partly explained by people who were born in Venezuela but subsequently obtained Dutch or another nationality. In addition, the nationality of more than 4,000 residents counted in the census was unknown. Neither figure can therefore establish how many Venezuelans are currently living legally or illegally on the island. The situation becomes even more complicated when undocumented migration is considered. R4V has indicated that people living in an irregular situation were probably underrepresented in Curaçao’s census. To compensate, R4V adjusted the census figures for possible undercounting and arrivals after the census, producing its estimate of 6,903 Venezuelan refugees and migrants. Comparing that estimate with the 4,263 Venezuela-born residents recorded in the census produces a difference of approximately 2,640 people. However, that difference cannot simply be interpreted as the number of undocumented Venezuelans. Some may have arrived legally after the census. Others without legal residence may have participated in the census, while some Venezuelans counted in 2023 may since have left Curaçao. Changes in nationality, expired residence permits and subsequent regularization further complicate the calculation. The uncertainty is also demonstrated by R4V’s own previous estimates. In December 2023, the organization estimated that 11,593 Venezuelan refugees and migrants were in Curaçao. By 2025, that figure had been revised downward to 6,903 — a difference of 4,690. That does not mean nearly 5,000 Venezuelans necessarily left the island. Instead, R4V changed its methodology, using the 2023 Census as a stronger statistical starting point and subsequently adjusting it for estimated undercounting and migration. The result is that Curaçao currently has several figures measuring different things: 4,263 Venezuela-born residents in the 2023 Census, 3,479 residents with Venezuelan nationality in that census, and an R4V estimate of 6,903 Venezuelan refugees and migrants. None provides an exact answer to how many Venezuelans live in Curaçao today.