Uruguay creates a legal figure for asylum seekers with a ‘Residence by rootedness’ – MercoPress

Uruguay creates a legal figure for “Residence by rootedness” for asylum seekers

“They come in as refugees, but they are not refugees, so this limbo is created,” Paganini explained

Uruguayan authorities came up with the so-called “Residence by rootedness” (“residencia por arraigo”) solution to help around 20,000 migrants whose asylum applications were rejected but who otherwise needed a consular visa to stay in the country, it was reported. announced in Montevideo.

The presidential decree providing a “legal exit” for those fleeing their country – especially Cuban nationals – was also signed on Wednesday by the Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. “Basically we are talking about people of Cuban descent or from other countries who need a visa,” Foreign Minister Omar Paganini explained. The interim solution “targets more than 20,000 people who are in an irregular situation,” Paganini also noted.

“It is a temporary solution for all the people who have already started the process,” he added. According to him, the measure would not promote immigration because only those “who have family or working roots” in the country are eligible. “This also makes it possible to resolve the issue of family reunification, which is one of the most important from the point of view of their rights,” he continued.

Most Cubans “need a visa to enter Uruguay but don’t have one,” Paganini explains. “They come in as refugees, but they are not refugees, so this limbo is created,” he continued.

Under the new regulations, these people can renounce their asylum request and apply for legal residence in one of the following three modalities: work or self-employment (permanent), family roots (permanent) and educational roots (temporary, renewable). In time, these people will also be eligible for Uruguayan citizenship.

The Uruguayan Refugee Commission (CORE) is currently processing around 24,000 asylum applications, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasizes.