- The mayor of Cúcuta, Jorge Acevedo, announced the measure to “strengthen” security in the region
Jorge Acevedo, mayor of Cúcuta, capital of the department of Norte de Santander (Colombia), announced that he will implement a new facial recognition system in that city and Venezuelans residing in that border area will be incorporated.
The measure was announced after Acevedo met with Colombian Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo. After the meeting, the local leader reported on the plan to “strengthen” security in Cúcuta.
“Cúcuta’s security will be strengthened through the implementation of new security cameras. We had already been working with the ministry to bring to Cúcuta around 250 LPR cameras, which record license plates,” Acevedo told Colombian media.
He pointed out that these cameras are equipped with artificial intelligence for face identification and assured that data from Migración Colombia will be used. “They have a software which has more than 5 million faces of Venezuelans identified,” the president added.
The authority mentioned that the data on the Venezuelan population will include Venezuelans living in Cúcuta or who are part of the pendulum migration. In addition, it will be updated gradually once the cameras are installed.
The measure was criticized by human rights activists, who say that the decision puts privacy at risk and increases the vulnerability of data, with possible harmful uses against the migrant population.
28% of the population in Cúcuta is Venezuelan
Mayor Jorge Acevedo said that at least 28% of the population of Cúcuta are Venezuelans who emigrated to the neighboring country.
The Observatory of Migrations, Migrants and Human Mobility (OM3), of Migración Colombia, published in April 2024 a report on the estimate of the number of Venezuelan people who live in that territory.
The state agency counted that as of January 31, 2024, there are 2,857,528 Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. Of this number, the three municipalities with the highest incidence of groups of this nationality are Bogotá (21.10%), Medellín (8.42%) and Cúcuta (7.66%).
The rest of the percentages, to a lesser extent, are made up of Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Maicao, Bucaramanga, Santa Marta, Arauca, Soacha, Riohacha, Valledupar, Villa del Rosario and Bello.
The average age of this population group is between 18 and 29 years old. This group remains the largest with 844,292 people, representing 29.55%.
Colombia and Venezuela
Currently, Colombia and Venezuela have reestablished diplomatic relations since President Gustavo Petro came to power. In this regard, both countries have reactivated judicial cooperation to combat violence and crime.
Venezuelans in regular and irregular situations
OM3 recorded that 75,548 people were in Colombian territory legally (60,255 entered through official channels and 15,293 have a valid foreign identity card or CE) as of January 2024.
As for the Venezuelan population considered irregular, because they do not meet or have stopped meeting the conditions for entry, stay or residence established in Colombian immigration regulations, it is estimated that there are 488,974 people.
In this section, it was documented that 226,901 people are PEP holders who, within the framework of the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants (ETPV), had the obligation to register in the Single Registry of Venezuelan Migrants (RUMV) before April 30, 2023 and did not do so.
On the other hand, 191,490 entered the country regularly through a migration control point, but exceeded the required time of stay, and 70,583 entered the country without authorization, according to estimates by Migración Colombia.
About RUMV
It is an identification and regularization mechanism for Venezuelan citizens who are in Colombia. It is a mandatory requirement to access the ETPV, which offers a series of benefits.
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2024-09-23 21:43:09
