16.03.2023
A conference in Brussels once again calls for solidarity with Venezuelan migrants. DW picked up the critical position of the Colombian Foreign Minister, Álvaro Leyva.
Solidarity with Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Solidarity with recipient countries. That is the theme of the international conference that is taking place this week in Brussels. At the meeting – organized by the European Union and Canada – donors, countries receiving migration, international organizations, humanitarian organizations meet for the third time, since 2019, to assess the situation, exchange experiences and join efforts.
According to data from February 2023, 7.2 million Venezuelans have left the country since 2018. 2.2 million of them have remained in Colombia. In the 2021 edition of the donor conference, 2.544 million euros were raised, of which 600 million were donations, 144 of them from the EU.
In Brussels, on the occasion of the conference, Álvaro Leyva, Foreign Minister of Colombia, the neighboring country most affected by the Venezuelan migration crisis, asked DW: “How to deal with Venezuelans without Venezuela being present? I am against it.” Colombia also echoes the doubts of the Government of Caracas questioning the census and questioning the destinations of international money.”We must start talking with Venezuela to establish true censuses,” he adds.
Colombia has known how to do it
Although praise for the Colombian management of migration has been constant in this type of international conferences, Foreign Minister Leyva insists on a different approach to the issue of refugees. “Yes, Colombia has known how to treat the refugees. And it will be an example on that issue and on many others,” he says, referring to the peace process and also the “Total Peace” plan of the government of Gustavo Petro. For this, and for the negotiations with the ELN, Colombia needs support. “One is brave, but helped,” says Álvaro Leyva.
Alvaro Leyva, Colombian Foreign Minister
On the other hand, the Colombian politician questions the policy carried out by the previous government. “Of course we are concerned that we have more than two thousand kilometers of border with Venezuela and that all this time it has been ignored, as if it did not exist. And meanwhile, what was happening with the border population? Hunger, the passage of contraband , drug trafficking, the lack of authority, all this has to be recomposed, not only in Colombia”, explains the Colombian foreign minister.
A regional problem
In any case, “the situation has changed. Colombia resumed its relations with Venezuela, the United States is negotiating with Venezuela; there have been conversations of a social nature and now those of a political nature are beginning,” stresses Álvaro Leyva. And not only has the political situation changed from and with the neighboring country, but rather all migration in Latin America.
“To Colombia, which became the second country in the world in terms of internal displacement after Sudan, Haitians are arriving in the Darién. And they do not come from Haiti, but from northern Chile, where their cheap labor was required. They lost their jobs and now they migrate to the United States. But there is no way to go from South America to the north, without going through my country. Is Colombia going to end up being the recipient of all the migration, because they have to be sent back from Panama? How are we going to return Haitians to Chile?
In Brussels, the solidarity conference with Venezuelan migrants focuses on good practices in Latin American countries that, with international help, have sought shelter, education, sanitary measures and documentation. In a second moment, the integration of migrants to the receiving societies. However, the European Commission recalls that the root causes of migration must be addressed to stabilize the region and, of course, Venezuela.
Money yes, but also another approach
Meanwhile, donations are coming in during the course of the international conference. Civil society organizations speak of the fact that for the 2.2 million Venezuelan migrants who have arrived in Colombia in four years, the country requires 1.235 billion dollars a month. Where can the solution come from beyond international solidarity?
“It’s not that Colombia doesn’t need money,” says Foreign Minister Leyva. “But there is a fundamental factor that is not being taken into account. And if the one that needs money is the Venezuelan State? Well, then, inject it, negotiate, seek full democracy and you will immediately be solving a migration issue, ”he adds.
Also alluding to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Colombian foreign minister insisted on the changes that have taken place in geopolitics. Despite the fact that, according to data from the Inter-American Development Bank, 75 percent of emigrated Venezuelans do not plan to returnForeign Minister Leyva concludes: “Venezuela is growing economically, people are returning. Policies cannot be static and managers and actors have to be present. How is a meeting that deals with the human fiber of Venezuela going to be called? without Venezuela?