Colombia: Will Venezuelan migration crisis be solved with the visit of the OAS?

Although Colombia has helped the Venezuelan population, it is expected that the OAS will bring solutions to face the crisis and prevent it from getting out of hand

As part of the recognition of the migration crisis of Venezuelans living on the border with Colombia, on November 19, 17 OAS delegates visited the country with the aim of finding a solution that would allow both the Colombian government and the OAS work jointly with regard to the quality of life of Venezuelan children, women, men and elderly people.

Leer en español: Colombia: ¿Se solucionará la crisis migratoria venezolana con la visita de la OEA?

Recent data from the UN reveal that of the three million Venezuelans who have left the country, one million has stayed in Colombia, while the rest have left other Latin countries such as Peru, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, among others. This is reported by El Colombiano.

The face of the Venezuelan exodus was announced by the United States ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Carlos Trujillo, who told EFE that "the faces of children, women, desperate parents crossing a border with empty suitcases only to return with a little food to live a few days. It is very sad. "

For the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carlos Holmes Trujillo, "the visit of the members of the OAS is a step forward in the goal of globally recognizing the migratory crisis in Venezuela."

What has Colombia done to attend to Venezuelans?

In spite of the educational crisis that Colombia has always faced, in terms of financing, infrastructure, adding the internal facts of corruption, Colombian schools have carried out a titanic task so that the children of Venezuela do not remain without studying. According to Migración Colombia, of the more than 48,000 children who entered the country, only about 13,549 have been able to enroll in a school. According to Semana magazine, the Colombian school that most Venezuelan children have received is the Pablo Correa León Educational Institution, located in Cúcuta. "Of the 3,300 students enrolled, 244 are Venezuelans. They are distributed from preschool to ninth grade, "Julio César Delgado, rector of the institution, told the media.

In 2015, the government of Juan Manuel Santos, according to the Foreign Ministry website, gave temporary shelter to more than 2,400 Venezuelans, attended to 29,928 adolescents, boys and girls in health and nutrition, giving more than 31,800 nutritional kits. We supported more than 3,000 people so that they could move around the country. Likewise, citizenship was accelerated to Venezuelans with Colombian relatives.

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The labor situation of Venezuelan migrants has not only been met by Colombian companies, but also by the government itself. According to the Foreign Ministry in 2015, 738 job vacancies without experience were opened, of which they managed to employ more than 160 Venezuelans. Figures today may be higher, but there is not an exact amount because of many works in informality.

Colombia has received praise for its humanitarian commitment as that made by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Filippo Grandi, who highlighted at the beginning of October 2018 the work of Colombia to serve all Venezuelans who daily they enter the border.

However, the OAS is expected to send more economic aid to Colombia and propose solutions, since the country is currently experiencing a financial crisis in the social and educational fields that it has not been able to attend to, apparently, in the current government of Iván Duque. budget.

LatinAmerican Post | Edwin Guerrero Nova

Translated from "La OEA visita Colombia: se buscan soluciones para la crisis migratoria venezolana"

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