The Dominican Republic has become the latest country to try to stem the flow of Venezuelans amid an unprecedented migratory crisis.
Starting Dec. 16, Venezuelans traveling to the Caribbean nation will need to apply for a visa _ an imposition that experts say will hurt those trying to flee the economic and humanitarian crisis.
With the move, the Dominican Republic follows Ecuador, Chile and Peru, which have all imposed new travel restrictions on Venezuelans in 2019.
The United Nations estimates that more than 4.6 million Venezuelans have left the country in recent years and have warned that the number could exceed 6.5 million by the end of 2020.
While most of the migrants travel overland through Colombia, almost every nation in the region has been affected.
The Dominican Republic is thought to be home to about 30,000 Venezuelans, a fraction of its 11 million population. David Smolansky, the head of the Organization of American States' task force on Venezuelan migration, has argued that open borders are crucial for Venezuelans trying to escape the crisis.
"Migratory restrictions, like the one announced by the Dominican Republic, demanding tourist visas, do not solve the problem," he wrote on Twitter. "Venezuelans are not economic or willing migrants, they're refugees fleeing a criminal state."
He also pointed out that almost 40,000 Dominicans migrated to Venezuela from the 1930s through the 1950s fleeing the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship.
The new Dominican rules carve out exceptions for those traveling on diplomatic passports and those who already have U.S., Canadian, British or Schengen Area (22 countries of the European Union) visas.
Venezuela boast the world's largest oil reserves but has been mired in a deep economic, social and political crisis for almost a decade. Amid hunger and gasoline and power shortages, thousands leave every day. Venezuela's neighbors _ particularly Colombia, Ecuador and Peru _ have been asking the international community for more support.
A report by the Brookings Institution released this week found that while the international community spent $7.4 billion on the Syrian refugee crisis during the first four years, it has spent about $580 million on the Venezuelan crisis. "On a per capita basis, this translates into $1,500 per Syrian refugee and $125 per Venezuelan refugee," the report found.
