About 25,000 Venezuelan Migrants Leave Colombia to Flee Covid-19

HAVANA TIMES – The Covid-19 pandemic has prompted about 25,000 Venezuelan migrants to return from Colombia to their home country, the director of Colombia’s migration authority said on Tuesday, reported dpa news.

Colombia hosts more than 1.8 million Venezuelans, the vast majority of whom fled the massive economic crisis and political unrest under Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Many Venezuelans were already living in precarious conditions in Colombia when the pandemic prevented them from hawking or begging to make a living.

The migrants first started to return on their own.

Colombian authorities have arranged for the migrants to cross the border in restricted groups. 

“Venezuela has a very limited capacity to receive its citizens,”

Colombian migration director Juan Francisco Espinosa said according to the National Radio. 

Colombia announced Tuesday it has seen a surge in Covid-19 cases recently with 12,272 cases reported across the nation. Some 493 deaths have been attributed to the respiratory disease. 

Venezuela has reported 422 cases and 10 deaths as of May 11.