The 1.7 million Venezuelan refugees present on Colombian soil will obtain a "
temporary protection status
".
It is one of the most massive migrant regulation operations ever announced in the world.
Ivan Duque strikes where we did not expect him: while two weeks ago he announced that Venezuelan migrants could not benefit from the mass vaccination of the population which is due to start on February 20, he creates this temporary protection status for Venezuelan migrants ”(EPTV) which will allow refugees from neighboring countries to work legally, to benefit from the health system and all of the country's social protection systems.
And therefore vaccination against covid 19. The temporary protection will last for 10 years, which demonstrates the Colombian government's lack of hope for a return to normal in Caracas.
Read also: Chile overwhelmed by the influx of Venezuelan migrants
Nearly 7 million Venezuelans have fled the economic crisis affecting their country.
Most of them passed through Colombia to reach Ecuador, Peru, Argentina or Chile.
But it is Colombia that welcomes the greatest number.
They often live in precarious conditions, unable to formalize their situation.
Indeed, many Venezuelans do not have a passport.
Applying for a passport in Venezuela is an obstacle course that lasts for months before obtaining the precious document.
An emigration of the "elites, who have left for Europe or the United States since 2010, has followed an emigration of the most precarious populations who are fleeing unbearable living conditions where the mere fact of eating or taking care of themselves is a daily challenge. .
Very vulnerable population
Colombians have become accustomed to seeing its columns of migrants by the side of the roads who walk for days and days to find more decent living conditions, in Colombia or further south in Ecuador, Peru, Chile or even Argentina. .
Of the 1.7 million Venezuelans living in Colombia, nearly a million do not have a passport and are therefore clandestine.
This puts them at the mercy of unscrupulous bosses who employ them for pittance, even mafia groups who exploit them in prostitution networks.
There is no shortage of armed groups in Colombia, too, who recruited from this very vulnerable population.
After the surprise effect, this initiative was greeted by the entire Colombian political class, even if we feel a certain embarrassment on the side of the Centro democratrico party of Álvaro Uribe, political godfather of President Duque.
According to Ronal Rodriguez, from the Venezuelan observatory in Rosario, "
this is a very bold step
" because it is not a short-term decision.
A “united, courageous and unprecedented” decision
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterrez hailed "
this important act of solidarity
".
The Ambassador of the European Union in Bogotá described this decision as “
united, courageous and unprecedented
”.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filoppo Grandi recalled that “
the majority of Venezuelans residing in Colombia work in the informal sector.
It is a precarious situation which creates competition with the Colombians
”.
For the columnist of the daily El Expectador, Jose Luis Ramirez Leon, “
The objective is to allow temporal regularization to allow social integration.
This will protect them from possible abuse by unscrupulous employers who pay them poverty without any social protection
”.
Read also: Colombia: eight Farc leaders indicted for crimes against humanity
President Ivan Duque has often been attacked in recent months for his lack of intervention to protect social actors, defenders of the indigenous people, the environment or workers, many of whom in recent months have fallen under the bullets of killers in pledges.
The ex-guerrillas of the Farc guerrillas, demobilized, also counted many victims in their ranks.
Opposed to peace agreements with the guerrillas, Ivan Duque is accused of indifference to the fate of former Farc combatants.
Not sure that, beyond the first positive reactions to the decision to regularize Venezuelan migrants, he retains a capital of sympathy on the left to allow him to calmly approach the presidential elections of 2022. Especially since this decision could cause him to lose some of the support he had until then from the most conservative fringe of the electorate.