President Gustavo Petro inaugurated Fernando García as the new director of Migration Colombiaone of the most visible entities of the national government.
(The changes for Venezuela and Colombia after reopening the border).
García, an old acquaintance of the national president, is a graduate in political science from the Universidad de los Andes, with a specialization in culture of peace from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain). During Petro’s tenure in Bogotá, he was the deputy director of international affairs.
It is worth noting that he recently served as an assistant in a Legislative Work Unit (UTL) between 2020 and 2022 in the Congress of the Republic.
Fernando García’s main challenge at the head of the entity will be to give continuity to the policy of attention to Venezuelan migrants who arrive in Colombia and request a temporary protection permit (PPT) that allows them to secure their status and link to society.
The previous government delivered more than 1,400,000 of these documents and another 400,000 remained to complete the total number of permit applicants, according to the latest data from Migración Colombia.
(Emigrate to the US? This will be the event to explain the process).
Regarding immigration status, of the more than 2,000,000 Venezuelans in Colombia, 333,806 are on a regular basis, although outside the PPT, that is, they have work visas or some other mechanism. On the other hand, 295,038 citizens are irregular.
President Petro pointed out in this regard that “The orders prohibiting entry into the country issued by the past Govt. due to political sectarianism they must be lifted, this is a country of freedom. There is a special statute that allows you to stay in Colombia, but without access to rights.”
He also spoke of promoting an assistance route from the Colombian State in the Darién, one of the most congested migratory passages in recent times by migrants heading to the United States, the vast majority of whom are Venezuelan nationals. “Our role is to assist in a difficult geographical area. Keep there, perhaps with helicopter assistance, to attend to the people who are on that death route.”
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