COLOMBIA
GENERAL DATA
Poverty rate:
According to the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE), the percentage of multidimensional poverty in the country was 17.5% in 2019. In June 2020, the rate of unemployment was 19.8%, which represents a 10.4% rise from the previous year. CEPAL reporting indicates that in 2019, 29.9% of the population lived in extreme poverty.
MIGRATION DATA
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Emigration: According to the magazine Datos Macro, and in keeping with data published by the UN, Colombia has 2,868,032 emigrants, which corresponds to 5.76 of the Colombian population. Of this total, 54.42% are women (1,561,138) and 45.58% are men (1,307,894). Colombian migration has been directed primarily toward Venezuela (33.23%), the United States (27.82), and Spain (12.82%).
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Immigration:According to Datos Macro, in 2019, Colombia had 1,142,319 immigrants, which corresponds to 2.29% of the Colombian population. Of this total, 50.4% are men (575,805), and 49.59% are women (556,514). Immigration arrives mainly from Venezuela (91.81%), the United States (1.76%), and Ecuador (1.33%). According to information from Colombian Immigration on the 30th of April, 2020 (Radiografía, Venezolanos en Colombia): the total number of Venezuelans in Colombia rose to 1,788,380 of which 763,544 are considered regular (documented) and 1,024,836 are considered irregular. The number of women is 883,544 and 904,836 are men. While Venezuelans are present in almost the entire country, there are places where the they have reached more than 100,000, such as: Bogotá (352,627), Norte de Santander (203,604), Atlántico (165,229), La Guajira (158,708), Antioquia (156,424), and Santander (107,587).
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Transit:Caribbean, South American, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African migrants transit Colombia on route to the US. This transit also occurs now to the south with migrants heading toward Ecuador en route to Southern Cone countries. This group of migrants is composed largely of Venezuelans, Haitians, Cubans, and Africans. According to declarations by Colombian Immigration, more than 80,000 people have returned to Venezuela through June 2020 by situations of forced return due to precarity of living conditions.
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Refugees:Colombia is the country in the region with the largest number of refugees, 300,000 recognized in 2018. At the same time, there has been recognized 140 Venezuelans as refugees.
In the year 2020, Colombia became the country with the second largest number of refugees worldwide. According to Revista Dinero, the country hosted almost 1.8 million displaced Venezuelans. This is only surpassed by Turkey which hosts 3.9 million. According to the coordination platform for refugees and migrants R4V, for March 2020, the approximate figure of migrants, refugees, and asylum petitioners of Venezuelan origin in Colombia was 1,809,872. However, Colomiban Immigration said that in April the figure rose to 1,825,000 people. Using these R4V figures as a base, in May 2019 there were 5,303 Venezuelan asylum peitions in progress, and 140 recognized refugees for December of that year. According to information from the consulate, reported by the project Migración Venezuela, in 2019 Colombia received 10,479 new asylum requests from Venezuelan citizens; meanwhile, Peru and Brazil together represent 70% of new Venezuelan petitions of the same year with 482,571 and 129,988 respectively.
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Internally displaced:According to the government’s victim registry, there are 8,036,014 internally displaced people in the country. According to the CODHES Information System, just in the first trimester of this year there have been 11,000 newly registered forced and massive displacements across 22 events, with afro-descendant and indigenous populations most affected (56%).
IMPACT BY COVID-19
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* daily data update
STATE MEASURES
All the decrees and administrative acts adopted in the framework of the health emergency can be consulted according to competent entities in:
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During the first days of October, Migración Colombia announced that there will be a new Special Permit of Permanence for Venezuelans, who will be able to apply between October 15, 2020 and February 15, 2021. Those who entered between December 31, 2020 and August 2020 are eligible, stamping their passport. At the same time, they will not be eligible if they have a judicial record in Colombia or abroad, nor if they have deportation or expulsion measures in force.
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Since the end of September, international flights have been authorized. Since October 1st, to enter Colombia authorities require travelers to show a negative PCR test. Criminal penalties will be enforced for individuals and airlines that fail to comply with this measure.
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Surveillance on the border with Venezuela has been reinforced. 700 soldiers and 200 police will monitor illegal crossings.
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A law has been proposed for a comprehensive immigration policy in Colombia that would include returnees, Colombians abroad, and foreign migrants to regularize the situation of immigrants and support emigrants.
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The new immigration law has been approved after a second round of debate. The law aims at the situation of Colombians abroad as well as foreign migrants in Colombia.
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The government of the north of Santander announced that the Simón Bolívar and Francisco Paulas border crossing points will be open for two days so that Venezuelan students enrolled in the Colombian educational system can take the “Saber” exam to access higher education.
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By the end of November, it was announced that the border closure measures between Colombia and Venezuela will extend until January 16, 2021, allowing only essential needs, humanitarian emergency, cargo transportation and acts of God or force majeure.