Uruguay shelters refugees from 52 nations amid rising requests
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In Uruguay, 3,244 people from 52 countries currently live as refugees, seeking safety from political, economic, and violent crises in their home nations.
Many arrived after experiencing hardship, such as an Afghan professional who fled when the Taliban took Kabul and spent over a year in Pakistan awaiting assistance. The majority of refugees in Uruguay are Venezuelan, with 2,543 residing there as of December 31, 2025.
Uruguay’s government responded to the Venezuelan migration crisis with a streamlined application process, approving 842 requests in 2023 and 659 in 2024, accounting for over half of all approvals. The country defines a refugee as someone with a well-founded fear of persecution based on ethnicity, gender, race, religion, political opinion, or violence.
Beyond Venezuelans, refugees also come from Colombia (218 people), Syria (69, many resettled in 2014 while escaping civil war), and over 50 other nations including Sierra Leone and Kazakhstan. While 3,244 refugees have been granted status, more than 30,000 applications are currently being processed, with 89% of those requests coming from Cuban citizens. Uruguay provides provisional identification and access to basic services to those seeking refuge while their applications are reviewed.
