The film ‘Hidden Life’ shows the story of the estimated 23,000 Venezuelans on Aruba and Curaçao, who fled due to the crisis in their home country. Although both Caribbean islands are part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, they do not have a formal asylum procedure – unlike the Netherlands itself.

Curaçao has not signed the UN Refugee Convention, and the UNHCR is not aware of any Venezuelans who have been granted refugee status on the islands. This means that refugees there end up in a legal vacuum, without access to legal employment or healthcare.

In this documentary, nine Venezuelan refugees from all walks of life speak openly for the first time about their lives in the shadows, in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

From a deserted soldier to a bricklayer, and from a catering entrepreneur to an education specialist, they talk about their dangerous journey across the sea, their time in the detention centre on Curaçao, the lack of access to medical care, exploitation by employers, and the constant fear of deportation to Venezuela. All the main characters have one thing in common: they have not seen their families in Venezuela for years.