Colombia-Venezuela: The Humanitarian Crisis of the Venezuelan Migration Flow
| Autor | Mauricio García Durán, S. J./Daniel Cuevas |
| Páginas | 249-274 |
-:
Mauricio García Durán, S. J., a nd
Daniel Cueva s
Introduction
e border between Colombia and Venezuela is the most active in both
countries and one of the most dynamic in all Latin America and the
Caribbean. Large migratory ows have passed through this border due to
complications arisen in Colombia and Venezuela over the past years. It is
seen as a critical border, aected by many economic, political, social, and
cultural crises faced by the two countries. Migratory ows through this
shared border have changed over time, depending on the living conditions
in one country have served as an incentive to move to the other. Accord-
ingly, the border is dened by two migratory ows in both direc tions.
Firstly, between and (“Farc: años enquistadas en Norte de
Santander”, ), the internal armed conict in Colombia and the oil boom
in Venezuela led to a major migratory ow from Colombia to Venezuela.
However, even when government-owned media in Venezuela claimed higher
numbers (Ramírez et al., ), more realistic statist ics suggest that at least
one and half mill ion Colombians sought refuge and econom ic alternatives
in Venezuela (Centro Nacional de Memoria Historica [], ). On the
other hand, from to , the direction of the migr atory ow changed.
President Maduro stated that there were . million Colombians in Venezuela. However, this is an
exaggerated number compared to other gures provided by other governmental institutions. In ,
a population census registered an estimated of , Colombians in Venezuela in addition to the
, Colombians that may be irregular migrants for a total of . million (Ramírez et al., , pp.
-). It is unclear if President Maduro includes in his calculations the children of Colombians born
in Venezuela who would, in fact, be Venezuelans and the Colombians nationalized there.
Historic Memory Nationa l Center (, in Spanish) (, p. ) reported , Colom bians
with the sta tus of refugee or sim ilar in Venezuela in for a maximum of , in precedent
years.
Mauricio García Durán, S. J., and Daniel Cuevas
Traditionally, migration dynamics in the A mericas are marked by intra- and
extra-regional patterns. In recent years, Venezuela has seen changes in its
migratory processes and ows to traditional destinations have intensied,
as well as new destinations in the region and the world. For the year ,
, Venezuelans were reported to be living outside their country. In ,
the numbers rose to ,, (International Organization for Migration
[], ) and in (the last update was on June) this number rose to
,, (Plataforma de Coordinación para Refugiados y Migrantes de Ven-
ezuela (), ). Currently, there is a predominant ow of migrants from
Venezuela to Colombia, including Colombians returning to their country
and Venezuelans who are crossing the border, to establish themselves tem-
porarily, permanently, or as a rst stop as part of a longer trip to other South
American countries li ke Ecuador, Peru, Chile, or Argentina.
e number of Colombians who returned to their home country
from Venezuela due to unfavourable conditions has continued to grow. In
, when the Venezuelan government closed the border, , Colombians
were deported and , “voluntarily” Colombians returned (Migración
Colombia, b, p. ) aer being pressured by the Venezuelan government.
at pressure escalated to the destruc tion of Colombians’ houses in illegal
shantytowns in San Antonio and Ureña, and there are reports of the Ven-
ezuelan government transporting Colombians in buses to the border and
urging them to cross (Servicio Jesuita a Ref ugiados en Colombia [-],
). Although the numbers are unclear, the balance between entries/exits
of Colombians from/to Venezuela in shows until September a dier-
ence of approximately , people, which indicates that Colombians are
trying to retu rn to their home country (World Bank, ).
It is estimated that more than one million Venezuelans are already
living in Colombia (Migración Colombia, b) , and it looks that this num-
ber will grow since the situat ion in Venezuela seems far from being solved.
e economic, political, and social cri ses in Venezuela is creating an impor-
tant intra-regional migratory ow from Venezuela to other Latin American
countries triggering a huma nitarian crisis in some of them, particu larly in
Colombia. is migratory ow and the critica l situation taking place at the
Colombian-Venezuelan border will be the topic studied in this a rticle.
First, we will do a general characterization of the geopolitical situa-
tion on both sides of the border. en, we will analyze the migratory ows,
particularly the Venezuelan one, including its scale, its dynamics, and the
proles of the migrants, thei r demographic traits, and the lack of protections
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