The Colombian government announced today that it was launching a new initiative to help Venezuelans enter and move about freely in Colombia. The initiative is called the Tarjeta de Movilidad Fronteriza [Border Movement Card], and is set to launch on November 27.
Colombia’s ranking migration authority, Christian Kruger, made the announcement during an event earlier today. Kruger said that the card would help the Colombian government “bring order to migration” and cut down on illegal activity stemming from undocumented border crossings.
Kruger also said that the card would help security in Colombia by identifying exactly who is entering the country.
Colombia has born the brunt of the latest Venezuelan migrant wave, which began to flow in 2017. There are over one million Venezuelans now living in Colombia.
Bolsonaro Rules Out Expulsions
Incoming Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro said today that he was not planning to expel Venezuelan migrants from the country, but that he would implement stricter border controls to slow the number of Venezuelans entering Brazil.
Speaking during a press conference, Bolsonaro used a Portuguese play-on-words to say that he would not return Venezuelans–as one might return change after paying for an item at a market–because “they are not money”.
At the same time, Bolsonaro spoke about what he considers to be the need to estbablish stricter border controls. He said:
There’s got to be a system of control for these people who are fleeing hunger and dictatorship, but there are also people that we do not want in Brazil.
Approximately 700-800 Venezuelans cross into Brazil each day. Brazilian authorities claim that at least 154,920 Venezuelans have entered Brazil on foot since the beginning of 2017, but that about 80,000 eventually returned.
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