Due to the crumbling of the Venezuela Economy under President Maduro, hundreds of thousands of refugees are fleeing into the neighboring country of Colombia. Over the past 6 months, immigration, mostly illegal, has almost doubled. Though the accepted number is that about 600,000 Venezuelan refugees have entered Colombia, border immigration centers have estimated the number to be much more; the Colombian/Venezuelan border is full of gaps where there is no clear line of separation or measures to prevent illegal immigration. Though this humanitarian crisis is bad in its own right, it only adds to the pre-existing political strife due to the fact that Colombia is just coming out of a 5-decade conflict with leftist rebels. It is important to note that the reason for the massive increase in immigration is due to leftist policies implemented by Maduro, who isn’t seen kindly by most Colombians. Because so many Venezuelans have already entered, Colombia has stopped the handing out of temporary border passes to buy food and medicine. This crisis has also put an incredible strain on the Colombian healthcare system, as it is dealing with shortages which have now began to affect Colombian citizens. Though Colombian president Santos has allowed expired passports to remain valid for 2 more years due to paper and ink shortages, it may only temporarily ease some of the problems at the border; It is important to keep in mind that most cross into Colombia illegally. Adding to tensions between the two nations is the fact that Maduro has yet to recognize the situation as a humanitarian crisis. In doing this, chances of cooperation between the two factions in solving this issue will likely decline. The opaqueness of the future for Colombia and its Venezuelan refugee crisis has sparked some new insight on the importance of border walls, a topic very prevalent in the forever changing stage of world politics.
