Amidst the political and economic turmoil that plagues Venezuela, migrants in the hundreds of thousands have flocked to neighboring Columbia for shelter. Although the facilities have been compared to cages, have pervasively spread disease, and lacks in food and water, many refugees prefer it over the conditions of Venezuela. During the prevalent rainy season, the health of the refugees within the state-funded camps has been speculated to be a major hazard.
Since April of 2018, over 400,000 migrants have come over from Venezuela during one of the largest exoduses Latin America has ever seen. Although some refugees are seeking asylum in Columbia due to opposition to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, “the main driver of the refugee crisis is the staggering depth of Venezuela’s economic meltdown,” says Cynthia J. Arnson (The Globe Post). However, this isn’t Columbia’s first ordeal with a large migrant population.
Estimates show that nearly 100,000 migrants passed through Columbia in 2016, half of which from India, and many from Cuba, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Eritrea (Time, Migration Panama America). This number has quadrupled due to just Venezuela’s mass exodus alone, forcing refugees to take shelter in the cities. This is largely due to the opportunities that are given to migrants in cities. Refugees looking to better their quality of life “typically prefer to resettle in cities. There, they stand a better chance at rebuilding their lives” (World Urban Campaign).
This is a similar situation to what happened in April of this year in bordering state Roraima, Brazil. Venezuelan migrants were “sleeping in the city’s squares, but with the rainy season looming, the authorities [took] action to avoid a collapse” (Thomas Reuters Foundation News). Brazil’s federal government closed down city squares in order to relocate the migrants to shelters. Columbia, in a staggeringly similar situation, might have to do the same.