In the city of Brussels, the main headquarters of the European Parliament, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Álvaro Leyva Durán, participated in the Conference in Solidarity with Venezuelan Refugees and Migrants and their Host Countries and Communities, a setting in which he presented the current situation , progress and concerns regarding Venezuelan migrants in the country.
The foreign minister reported that according to the most recent figures from Colombian Migration, there are 2,508,242 Venezuelan migrants in the country, with a vocation for permanence. It should be remembered that migration is one of the current challenges in Colombia.
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the country changed its vocation from sender to receiver since 2019, a situation aggravated by the massive passage of migrants through the Darien plug, bound for the United States.
During his speech, Leyva assured, “with a spirit of solidarity and fraternity, we have made enormous efforts to welcome, care for and integrate these populations and ensure their well-being on equal terms to our nationals, a situation that Venezuela did in the past for my compatriots”.
However, Colombia is a country that did not have significant experiences in the reception of immigrants, which is why the State has had to allocate a large part of its finances and technical capacity to care for this population. Such is the case of the 1,748,945 beneficiaries of the Temporary Protection Statute.
The situation led the foreign minister to request support to deal with this phenomenon, in this regard he indicated: “In the region we have one of the three largest migratory movements worldwide, but unfortunately the support received in recent years, although valuable, is not enough”.
This appeal to the international community seeks to promote the principle of shared responsibility, gain support to deal with migratory flows, and strengthen institutional capacity to meet the humanitarian needs of migrants and refugees.
Leyva Durán assured that Colombia intends to promote the full socioeconomic inclusion of migrants and refugees, but achieving this goal could cost close to 1.8 billion dollars in the next three years.
“It is essential that financial support be strengthened for the Regional Plan launched in December 2022, which has requirements of USD 1,720 million for 2023 and USD 1,570 million for 2024. Likewise, it is necessary to follow up on the commitments announced in the Previous conferences so that disbursements are made in a timely manner, thus ensuring the continuity of response actions in host countries”, he requested in his speech.
Although Colombia’s position regarding attention to the human rights of Venezuelan migrants has been maintained, the Government of Gustavo Petro faces a new challenge, that of dealing with this issue without affecting common interests with the neighboring country.
As evidence of the new political reality of the country, Leyva highlighted “a solidarity conference towards Venezuelan refugees and migrants, in which Venezuela is not present.”
The chancellor also established the position of the national government: “We see dialogue as the center of our foreign policy as a great power to find solutions and address common challenges (…) dialogue without exclusions, to speak frankly about the challenges of the countries of origin, transit and destination of migrations, as established by the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”.
Finally, Leyva concluded his speech reaffirming the commitment of the current government, which will be addressed again at the Regional Summit on Migration that will take place hand in hand with Mexico. with Infobae