Venezuelan migrants welcome new Colombian protection measure

Venezuelan migrants in Colombia welcomed a historic decision by that country to grant m protection for next 10 years and are hoping measure will make it easier to get jobs and access social services.

temporary protection statute anunced on Monday by President Iván Duque will give 1.8 million Venezuelans currently living in Colombia permission to stay and will enable m to apply for permanent residency.

It will be especially beneficial for 1 million Venezuelans who are currently undocumented and have left ir country to escape food shorts, hyperinflation and lowest ws in Western Hemisphere.

“I think this will help me to have some stability,” said Wuilliamnys Querales, a 19-year-old high school drop out who arrived in Colombia six months ago with her baby boy.

Querales has work permit and currently makes a living begging for money at a traffic light while she keeps an eye on her baby's stroller. She is hoping new policy will help her get a job that enables her to pay for childcare.

“It’s ugly to be out here looking for help,” she said. “But at moment I have or choice.”

Venezuelans who want to apply for protection will have to register online and will n have to go to offices to get ir fingerprints and pictures taken.

Mercy Corps, a humanitarian group that provides emergency aid to thousands of Venezuelan migrants, said process of registering almost a million people and integrating m into social services like education and vaccination, will be a “mammoth task” for which Colombia will need greater international support.

While decision to provide temporary protection to a massive number of immigrants and refugees was applauded by diplomats and humanitarian groups around world, it could present Duque with political challenges at home.

Sergio Guzmán, a Bogota-based political analyst, said new policy will likely decrease president's popularity while putting migrants at center of next year’s electoral debate. Colombia will hold presidential elections in May.

“Polls in Colombia suggest that most people here are t in favor of allowing Venezuelan migrants to stay,” Guzman said. “So some candidates might try to exploit this by tapping into anti-immigrant sentiment.”

A poll conducted by Gallup in January found that 67% of Colombians have an unfavorable view of Venezuelan migrants, while more than 80% said y disagreed with how Colombia's government is managing Venezuelan migration. poll had a margin of error of 3 percent points.

But policy experts have widely backed move, which is expected to make it easier for Colombia’s government to provide migrants with services that include coronavirus vaccines.

Dany Bahar, an ecomist and senior fellow at Brookings Institution, said that legalizing Venezuelan migrants was a “ brainer.” He said that while move may have some short-term costs, it will benefit Colombia’s ecomy in long run.

“ certainty of having documents and residence permits will allow migrants to invest in mselves and in ir communities,” Bahar said. “It will enable people to open businesses, pay taxes and reach ir maximum potential.”

A study conducted by Bahar in 2018 found that unemployment rates and salaries for most Colombian workers did t change after country provided residence permits to approximately 300,000 Venezuelans.

Bahar said that in order to absorb short term costs of integrating Venezuelan migrants, Colombia will need greater international support. Research conducted by Brookings found that by early 2020, international dors had spent approximately $1.3 billion in response to Venezuela migration crisis, which began in 2015, while almost 20 times as much had been spent to meet needs of Syrian refugees worldwide.

According to United Nations, re are currently more than 5.5 million Venezuelan migrants and refugees around world, almost a third of whom live in Colombia.

Colombia’s government expects up to a million more Venezuelans to arrive in following years as that nation’s humanitarian crisis deepens and its government becomes increasingly authoritarian.