As a result of the exodus triggered by the humanitarian crisis in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Peru is now the country to have received the second-largest number of Venezuelan migrants. As of May 2022, Peru had received around 1.3 million migrants from Venezuela. The scale of this inflow has brought opportunities and challenges in relation to public policy. This document describes and evaluates the country’s public policy response to migration in terms of both the regulatory framework and the programmes and actions targeting the migrant population.

The analysis finds that the institutional response to migration emphasized providing the migrant population with legal protection, based on the assumption that they and the native-born population have equal rights. However, in practice, this assumption did not translate into effective access to social protection programmes, the health system or livelihoods for the migrant population, nor did it result in social cohesion or socio-economic inclusion.

The paper also presents best practices identified from among local initiatives and offers evidence-based policy recommendations with a view to contributing to Peru’s response to migration.