The Pandemics of Forced Migration
On 21 July, Migration Colombia indicated that the number of Venezuelans who have voluntarily left the country for Venezuela in the midst of the pandemic has exceeded 90,000. However, this figure represents a very low percentage compared to the more than 4 million Venezuelans who decided to flee the human rights crisis and the complex humanitarian emergency.
Venezuela allows the entry of returnees on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, in an attempt of the Venezuelan Executive to regulate the entry of thousands of citizens and to control the outbreaks during the health emergency. But testimonies of criminalization, stigmas and discrimination invade the media.
Without doubt, the Covid-19 pandemic is a threat to Venezuelan migrants and refugees, who were already in a vulnerable situation in Latin American countries. Indigenous people, women, and unaccompanied children are those who, according to the UN, are included in the international plan of response to the coronavirus.
