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The journey of Venezuelans outside their country in search of opportunities was, for many, a journey of no return. But this changed with the pandemic. The health crisis caused by covid-19, and the economic impact of measures to contain it, such as compulsory isolation, have led to the departure of 55,888 Venezuelans between March 14 and May 13, according to migration figures. Colombia.
The first wave, of 29,800 people, occurred in just three days: between March 15 and 17, before the closure of the border with Venezuela ordered by the Iván Duque government on March 13 came into effect.
In addition to this flow, made up mainly of pendular migrants constantly moving between borders, in recent weeks there was also the flow of Venezuelans from other areas of the country, motivated both by the difficulties of subsisting in Colombia and by the invitation Nicolás Maduro’s own government made them return.
In some cases, these migrants have crossed the country in order to return, which has forced the Office of the Attorney, Colombia Migration and the Transport Superintendency to intervene to prevent abuse of bus companies or lack of coordination between local leaders.
Call for solidarity
In the first days, according to the presidency adviser for migration from Venezuela, Felipe Muñoz, controlling the exit of Venezuelans in an orderly manner was like “stopping a cyclone with your finger”.
Some local leaders, on their own, began to support these transfers. One of them was the Mayor of Cali, Jorge Iván Ospina, who proposed on April 7 a humanitarian flight to repatriate these people and, on April 14, had ten buses to make the journey from the city to the border crossing of Cucuta.
The movements, however, generated concentrations –and therefore foci of contagion– in certain cities, such as Bucaramanga. In mid-April, thousands of people, who arrived by bus from other areas of the country, crowded into the Plaza del Agua, in the capital of Santander. Although the number has been decreasing, this week several hundred blocked the road to Norte de Santander, demanding a bus to return to their country.
In this context, and in order to avoid a collapse of the border cities, the Attorney General’s Office issued a circular on April 30, in which it urges mayors and governors to work in a coordinated manner for these transfers.
This warning for local leaders who tried to encourage Venezuelan movements without consulting the authorities, materialized on May 7, when the Office of the Attorney General suspended the government secretary of Puerto Tejada, Cauca, Pablo Mina, for the alleged transfer to Cali of 18 migrants without complying with the protocols and not acting in conjunction with Migración Colombia.
“This cannot be about how a city makes blind eyes so that the migrant passes to the next municipality,” Juan Francisco Espinosa, director of Migration, told EL TIEMPO.
The control measures also involved the Transport Superintendency, which sanctioned the companies New Andes World Tours, Estarter, Transportes Especiales del Oriente, Transporte Libertus and Del Norte Transportes y turismo, on May 4, for offering their service without complying with biosafety standards.
EL TIEMPO was able to confirm with Migración Colombia that these companies were transporting Venezuelan migrants.
The funnel at the border
So far, the percentage of Venezuelans who have crossed into their country is equivalent to only 1.4 percent of the total of 1,825,000 that are officially recorded in Colombia.
This figure, however, is mainly due to the reception capacity of Venezuela, which has limited the passage through each border point: through Villa del Rosario, in Norte de Santander, they receive 300 people per day; by Arauca, 100; and for La Guajira the runner is only enabled on a temporary basis.
According to Migración Colombia, 65 percent of the departures have been through Norte de Santander and of those who have crossed 81 percent are adults and 19 percent are minors.
Migración Colombia, together with the border management, control bus transfers daily.
Added to this dropper flow is the possibility, contemplated by the authorities, that this phenomenon is not permanent. “A part of that population will return, to the extent that Venezuela does not develop capacities to attend to them,” says Espinosa.
For this reason, and due to the proportion of people who have left, Muñoz considers that “it is an error to think, as some seem to have considered, that the Venezuelan migratory phenomenon in Colombia ended this situation.”
The phenomenon of recent weeks, for Ronal Rodríguez, director of the Venezuela Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario, reflects that migration from Venezuela has different characteristics from the traditional ones: it is a transit in which the possibility of returning is not ruled out.
“It is a migration that fails to establish itself and lives longing for that relationship with its land,” he says. This condition, added to the uncertainties of a pandemic and the promises of a government from which they decided to flee, were the factors that motivated tens of thousands of people who in recent weeks retraced their steps, on a path that, however, is unlikely to be the last time they tour.
‘There is no incentive to leave migrants’: Juan F. Espinosa, director of migration
How has the Government responded to the intention of thousands of Venezuelans to return to their country?
What we have seen is that as human beings we are all in a rational behavior of returning home in this pandemic situation. It has also happened to many Colombians. In addition, there is a high degree of informality in the Venezuelan migrant population, a dependency on informal markets that has been hampered by isolation. But the government is not encouraging the departure of migrants. Rather, the call is for them to remain. But neither can we restrict the right to migrate.
We understand that the United Nations is not supporting this process with resources, precisely because of prevention in that sense …
Behind this situation there are complex discussions, because many of these people are returning to a country where the situation is not right. In fact, one is sad that, despite being warned of this, many insist on leaving. So I understand that the international authorities say: we cannot be in this. In fact, we are not in it either, only that we cannot try to retain a person.
How is the coordination with Ecuador regarding the migrant flows from there?
The border with Ecuador is more than porous: it is one of coexistence between neighbors. It is an area where there are farms with part in Ecuador and part in Colombia. The Public Force has made an effort to block these steps. We have a mirror plan with the Ecuadorian authorities, with whom we have had meetings. The priority is to protect Nariño, Ipiales and other municipalities in the area. But it is impossible to guard every meter of the border.
What will happen to the reception measures that Venezuelans are processing that are leaving?
Those who leave irregularly can lose their status. For example, whoever was asking for a shelter would lose that possibility. If the exit is in violation of the law, by trail, they are exposed to sanctions.
JUAN MANUEL FLÓREZ ARIAS
For the time @juanduermevela
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