Colombian court ordered to define measures that allow Venezuelans to know the alternatives to be legally in the country

• 39 Venezuelan migrants filed an appeal because they considered that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs violated their right to due process | Photo: El Sumario

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has ordered Gustavo Petro’s government to “define a route” to guide Venezuelan migrants on the alternatives they have to obtain documentation that will allow them to legally reside in that country.

The decision was made following the court reviewed a request for protection filed by 39 Venezuelan migrants, who considered that the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs violated their right to due process.

According to a publication of the Colombian newspaper TimeThe foreigners claimed that the agency “unjustifiably” delayed the resolution of their applications for recognition of refugee status, while the Administrative Unit of Migration Colombia violated their right to work by excluding them as beneficiaries of the safe-conduct of the Special Permit of Stay for the Promotion of Formalization (PEPFF) that allowed them to work while their application for refuge was being resolved.

Given this situation, Judge Paola Andrea Meneses Mosquera, of the Third Review Chamber of the Constitutional Court, divided the cases into groups, because each citizen had different situations.

“On the one hand, in the face of the violation of the right to due process, the Court found that the current lack of object had occurred with respect to 19 petitioners (people) who were granted refugee status, 3 whose application was denied by the Ministry and who no longer had an active refugee application, and 10 more who withdrew their refugee application. In contrast, there was a group of 7 petitioners whose petition was archived and with respect to whom the lack of object did not apply,” the Court said in a statement.

Constitutional Court of Colombia | Photo: Regional Network for Inclusive Education

Case details

The Court found that in 32 of the cases there was a “current lack of purpose” since they had documents that allowed them to work in Colombia. These people already had a visa or work permit or a Temporary Protection Permit (PPT).

However, the Court noted that the remaining seven cases did not have an application for asylum or a visa or permit to work in the country.

“They ignored the rights to work, the minimum living wage and equality of shareholders. They also restricted the exercise of the right to request recognition of refugee status,” the Court concluded regarding the actions of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Special Administrative Unit of Migration Colombia.

Measure in favor of Venezuelans in Cúcuta

On July 9, authorities at the Erasmo Meoz Hospital in Cúcuta, Norte de Santander (Colombia), reached an agreement with Migración Colombia to expedite the PPT process for Venezuelans who request medical care at that health center.

With this document, patients can join a Subsidized Health System Administrator (ARS), which supports the service provided by the hospital and allows the State to pay the health center for the care provided.

This proposal was presented by the hospital representatives, because the Colombian State has a debt, since 2016, of 130 billion Colombian pesos (approximately 32 million dollars) with the health center for the care of Venezuelan migrants.

What is PPT?

The Temporary Protection Permit is a document that allows Venezuelan migrants to remain in Colombian territory legally. With this document, citizens can move freely throughout the country. In addition, they can enter and leave the nation without exceeding a period of 180 days outside of Colombia.

With this document, migrants can access health services, open bank accounts and apply for work permits.

Alex Noguera, deputy manager of the Erasmo Meoz Hospital, explained in an interview for the Colombian newspaper The opinionthat this measure began to be applied during the first week of July to a child from San Cristóbal, Táchira state (Venezuela).

Noguera clarified that it is possible that not all cases will be successfully handled, since Migración Colombia might encounter obstacles to processing the PPT.

However, he said that they will not stop caring for Venezuelan migrants who arrive at the hospital. He argued that health is a fundamental right that must be guaranteed.

Photo: The Opinion

Venezuelans in Colombia

Colombia is one of the countries with the largest number of Venezuelan migrants. According to official data from Colombian authorities, there are at least 2,845,706 Venezuelan citizens in this nation. Data that were ratified by the Colombian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Luis Gilberto Murillo, on July 3 during the Fifth Regional Conference on Population and Development in Latin America and the Caribbean of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

At a press conference, the foreign minister added that there are more than 600,000 migrant children in the country’s education system and nearly 1.2 million in the health system.

He took the opportunity to present a new project, which Migración Colombia is working on together with the Ministry of Labor, with which they intend to “improve the quality of working life” of Venezuelan migrants in that country, through a circular visa mechanism.

He explained that many of these foreigners come to the country to work in some activities, such as harvesting crops, and then return to Venezuela.

The minister took the opportunity to recall that 10 Integrate Centers have been set up in Colombia in partnership with the United Nations and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), which are a hub for migrants to receive advice on entering the labor market and receiving social benefits.

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