The 59 Venezuelans were expelled “without evidence and in an unworthy manner,” the Court determined. Until today, no evidence has been presented.
Colombia News.
The 59 Venezuelans were expelled amid the protests that occurred in November 2019, signaling them to be part of the vandalism.
They captured them, reviewed them, and put them on buses heading to the border.
The announcement of the capture and expulsion of the foreigners was made on November 25, 2019, amidst the social unrest over the protests of the national strike.
We invite you to read: Demonstrations accompany the afternoon in Bogotá
The authorities announced that they had evidence that the foreigners “were affecting security, order and were carrying out vandalism in the marches.” For their part, the police assured that they had “untold proof” of such conduct.
The migrants were transferred from Bogotá to Puerto Carreño, where even the mayor disagreed with the presence of the 59 Venezuelans in that municipality.
“They go to the river and come back again”: in Puerto Carreño they reject deportation of Venezuelans from that area >>https://t.co/AK1Xap3R4d pic.twitter.com/sdHvY5yYpI
– News Caracol (@NoticiasCaracol) November 26, 2019
The migrants reached the capital of Vichada and later Colombian migration officials transferred them on a raft down the Orinoco River to the border with Venezuela.
According to the migrants’ account, the Colombian authorities did not coordinate the delivery with authorities from the neighboring country and left them “lying in the middle of nowhere.”
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After the entire process, 7 of the 59 expelled from the country initiated actions to defend their rights.
Several of the expelled migrants were the daily sustenance of his family.
Of those seven citizens, it was established that they had been working in the country for months, apparently they did not have any type of judicial record in either Colombia or Venezuela, and they had not been participating in protests.
The defense
Lawyers from the Universidad de los Andes legal office initiated the defense process and found several irregularities in the process.
One of the irregularities that most caught the attention of the lawyers was the total absence of evidence in the case; moreover, “the captures were made in an irregular manner.”
The case went to the Constitutional Court and when the court requested the evidence, the police responded that, “the patrolman in charge was on a leave of absence.”
Migration Colombia will have 10 days to present the evidence of the alleged criminal conduct of foreign citizens or it will have to annul the 59 expulsions.
Also because of the risk “and humiliation to which the Venezuelan citizens were subjected.”
The arbitrary expulsion of a group of Venezuelans accused of vandalism during the 2019 national strike, who were left in the middle of the Orinoco River.
My story today. I invite you.pic.twitter.com/8a3B0Ld6BC
– Juan David Laverde (@ jdlaverde9) December 13, 2021
