The challenges that persist in Colombia to consolidate the integration process of Venezuelan migrants

According to the Ombudsman’s Office, between January and May 15, 2024, 175,851 people susceptible to refugee status and in need of international protection. Of the total, 118,397 were Venezuelans; 13,814, Haitians; 15,182, Ecuadorians, and 9,404, Chinese.

Colombia has been one of the countries in the region that has most promoted policies to serve the Venezuelan migrant population with the aim of preventing, among others, their falling into the networks of migrant traffickers. An example of this was the issuance of Decree 216 of 2021, which established the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants, which gave rise to the Temporary Protection Permit, PPT, document that facilitates the regularization of the population for ten years, and allows access to rights, work, health, education, financial services, among others.

Precisely, being regularized, according to Gloria Alicia Pinzón, director of Socioeconomic Development and Institutional Strengthening of the Pan American Development Foundation (Fupad), is a key factor to achieve socioeconomic integration.

According to Migración Colombia, as of January 2024, 2,857,528 Venezuelan migrants have entered the country, of which 488,974 have not yet been regularized, a factor that for Pinzón “truncates socioeconomic integration.”

So things are, the official of the Fupad (organization affiliated with the Organization of American States), currently, Despite the progress in Colombia, a series of challenges persist that prevent the consolidation of the integration process of the migrant population in the country.

For Pinzón, achieving the regularization of all migrants so that they can access services that allow them to enjoy fundamental rights is one of the greatest challenges regarding this population.

He also considers that the homologation of titles and the validation of experience is another of the burdens that weigh on migrants since, currently, this process “is complex and delayed.”

“It is important to operationalize some of the existing public policies, such as CONPES 4100, improve institutional coordination and where possible strengthen the budget and expand service capacity to serve vulnerable groups, among these is the migrant population,” highlighted Pinzón.

He considers that it is also necessary to “rescue and make visible good practices and positive contributions to the country to scale their applicability.”

The official points out that “it is vital to continue with awareness campaigns aimed at different sectors (education, health, media, local governments, businessmen, among others), demystifying imaginaries and demonstrating the positive results of migration in the development of Colombia. ”.

For his part, Txomin Las Heras Leizaola, researcher at the Venezuela Observatory of the Universidad del Rosario, pointed out that the humanitarian conditions that persist in Venezuela continue to be the main cause for the departure of migrants.

The expert highlighted that in Colombia currently many migrants have not reached the regularization process. “This issue remains open, although a group of Venezuelans has been regularized through the PPT, there is still a group that has not been able to access this benefit,” said Las Heras.

The academic also indicated that the immigration issue in this government has ceased to be a “priority.”

“This has meant that it has not been possible to develop integration policies, especially in the labor area. Obviously, this does not help generate paths for the integration of this population.”

The researcher considered that the policies promoted by the United States “probably will not be successful.” “The person who needs to survive will jump over the barriers they have to jump to seek a more dignified living condition.”