Nearly 100,000 Venezuelans Have Left Colombia During Pandemic

HAVANA TIMES – More than 95,000 Venezuelan migrants have returned from Colombia to their home country during the coronavirus pandemic, Colombia’s migration authority said on Thursday, reported dpa news.

Over 42,000 others are planning to go back, according to the statement.

Colombia hosts the largest number of Venezuelans who have fled the economic and political crisis in their country.

The number of Venezuelans in Colombia has now dropped to under 1.8 million, the migration authority said.

About 57 per cent of the Venezuelans are in Colombia illegally, and coronavirus restrictions have prevented many of them from making a living in the informal sector.

They prefer to go back to Venezuela, where they have relatives and homes, even if the country’s economy has practically collapsed.

The return to Venezuela has not been easy, as President Nicolas Maduro’s government has been limiting the numbers of returnees and placing them in quarantine centres.

Colombia has recorded 345,714 novel coronavirus infections and 11,624 deaths.

Venezuela has confirmed 22,299 infections and 195 deaths, but the real figures are believed to be much higher.