Felipe Muñoz, the man in charge of Colombia’s Plan Frontera–a government initiative launched in May in response to the migrant crisis–said in an interview today that the country only has approximately 10% of the money that it needs to properly face the crisis.
If you want to completely cover the [government’s response to the crisis], we need a lot more money.
Despite the gloomy admission, Muñoz said that Bogota was ready to seek funding “from the international community”, and that he considered that Colombia was doing a good job so far at receiving Venezuelan migrants.
Colombia has felt the brunt of the latest wave of Venezuelan migration, which began in mid-2017. There are now over one million Venezuelans living in Colombia, which is approximately one third of all Venezuelan migrants in the world.
Muñoz also explained that while the Colombian government’s initial response to this latest migrant wave was taking care of the migrants’ immediate humanitarian needs, it is now in a position to look forward towards helping to absorb any Venezuelans who wish to make their lives in Colombia. He said:
We’re moving on towards a second phase, one of migration regulation. By this December we will have 626,000 people with a special permanent residence permit. That means that they will have access to healthcare, education, and that they will be able to work,
Venezuelans Now Lead Affirmative Asylum Requests in U.S.
Andrew Selee, the head of the Migration Policy Institute, told Voz the America that Venezuelans are now leading the world in asylum requests in the United States.
According to Selee, Venezuelans rank first in affirmative asylum requests, which are those made by individuals who have not been detained by migration officers. In order to make an affirmative asylum request in the United States, an individual must state that they fear “harm or mistreatment” in their home country, including torture.
I am going to be specially busy this week, and may be unable to dedicate much time to the daily updates.
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