Colombian government announced that it has regularized 2.5 million Venezuelans in the last 4 years

• The Colombian Foreign Ministry stressed the importance of regularizing refugees from Venezuela to protect the most vulnerable from human trafficking and other human rights violations that have occurred in the Darien jungle | Main photo: EFE

The Colombian Foreign Ministry announced on Monday, August 26, that the country has regularized 2.5 million Venezuelans since 2021 and has also established Safe Mobility Offices to grant access to legal avenues for the United States and other countries.

The joint declaration Tripartite Mechanism on Irregular Migration, signed by the governments of Colombia, Panama and the United States, establishes that the main purpose of regularizing Venezuelan refugees is to prevent human trafficking through the Darien jungle and to stop the exodus of migrants who do not have the Temporary Protection Status.

The three nations also agreed to devise methods to dismantle human trafficking networks and improve the exchange of information on migration across borders. Panama also increased the capacity of its repatriation program for migrants who lack documents to remain in the country.

“The three governments (Colombia, Panama and the United States) recognize the threats posed by transnational criminal organizations that profit from the exploitation of migrants. In this regard, they reaffirm their commitment to identify different mechanisms to dismantle these networks and bring these criminals to justice. They also commit to improving the exchange of information,” the document reads.

Photo: Colombian Foreign Ministry

Photo: Colombian Foreign Ministry

Migratory flow through Darien affects more than 90 countries

The three signatory nations insisted that irregular migration flows in Darien have a global reach and affect more than 90 countries. In response to this, Colombia, Panama and the United States committed to encouraging dialogue to implement measures to reduce the number of migrants crossing the jungle.

In this regard, the members of the Tripartite Mechanism on Irregular Migration announced that they will support efforts for regularization and socioeconomic integration for migrants, as well as actions that protect refugees in vulnerable conditions.

Colombia and Panama, for their part, stressed the importance of protecting ecosystems in the Darien jungle, since most of them have been affected by the wave of migration.

That is why the foreign ministers of both countries instructed their immigration authorities to hold a technical meeting within a maximum of 90 days to implement the measures approved on Monday, August 26.

Venezuelan migrants in Colombia

In June 2024, the Interagency Coordination Platform for Refugees and Migrants from Venezuela (R4V) updated the number of Venezuelan migrants who have fled the country.

According to the organization, 7.77 million Venezuelans have emigrated, of which 2.86 million are in Colombia.

Photo: EFE

Migration agreement between Panama and the United States

On August 20, 2024, the First repatriation flight of migrants who crossed the Darien junglefinanced by the United States in the context of an agreement with Panama, left the capital of the Central American country on Tuesday, August 20, bound for the city of Medellín, in Colombia.

Around 30 citizens, mostly young Colombians with criminal records, according to official sources, arrived handcuffed at Marcos A. Gelabert Airport, better known as the Albrook terminal, where after a documentary search they boarded the aircraft, which departed shortly after 6:00 am Panama time.

The head of the National Migration Service (SNM), Roger Mojica, said at a press conference that the migrants on this first flight financed by the United States were returned to Colombia under the guise of deportation.

Among the deported citizens is a suspected “hitman” of the Colombian Clan del Golfo, who was identified through the biometric system used by Panamanian authorities in Darien, the official added.

Panama and the United States signed an agreement on July 1 to return migrants who cross the Darien, the jungle bordering Colombia that is experiencing a crisis due to the migratory flow, which last year reached 520,000 people, an unprecedented figure.

With this program, “both those with criminal records and those who enter the country illegally, which are all those who enter through Darién, will be returned under the figure of repatriation or deportation,” said Mojica.

The agreement involves US support valued at 6 million dollars, which is why the Panamanian president said last week that the return flights of migrants are “at no cost to Panama.”

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