Colombia’s new president faces backlash over ‘inhumane’ deportation policy

Bogota, Colombia – Opposition politicians and migrant communities successful Colombia person decried President Abelardo de la Espriella’s program to motorboat a deportation run against overseas nationals surviving irregularly successful the country.

De la Espriella unveiled the crackdown during a information assembly gathering connected Sunday, ordering constabulary to statesman operations arsenic soon arsenic this week.

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The argumentation is expected to chiefly impact Venezuelans, by acold the largest migrant colonisation successful Colombia.

It marks a stark departure from measures nether erstwhile administrations, which mostly sought to make ineligible migration pathways for those fleeing hardship successful neighbouring Venezuela.

“I volition not judge immoderate amerciable immigrants, wherever they travel from,” said de la Espriella successful a video shared connected the societal media level X connected Sunday evening. “They volition person to permission and beryllium deported. It is simply a governmental determination I americium taking work for.”

The far-right president – who was inaugurated earlier this period – said his authorities volition archetypal people those “committing crimes” and past those whose “status has not been regularised”.

While de la Espriella did not code immoderate circumstantial nationalities, immoderate 95 percent of Colombia’s migrant colonisation are Venezuelan, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental group.

Approximately 2.8 cardinal Venezuelans reside successful Colombia, making it location to the largest Venezuelan migrant assemblage successful the world.

While astir 2 cardinal person a Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) authorising them to unrecorded successful the country, an estimated 500,000 deficiency support to beryllium successful Colombia, according to migration authorities. Many of them were granted impermanent permits that person since expired.

De la Espriella, a governmental outsider, pledged to tackle amerciable migration during his statesmanlike campaign, his archetypal bid for elected office.

The erstwhile lawyer has aligned himself with right-wing leaders specified arsenic US President Donald Trump, who initiated his ain deportation run successful the United States.

De la Espriella’s declaration connected Sunday triggered uproar among absorption leaders, including leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, who narrowly mislaid the presidency successful a June run-off. He leads the Historic Pact, the largest enactment successful Colombia’s Congress.

“Today, de la Espriella has added xenophobia to each the authoritarian, despotic and discriminatory traits of his policies,” Cepeda wrote connected X.

Cepeda past accused de la Espriella of failing to support Colombian deportees from the United States.

“De la Espriella is bold capable to people migrants from Latin American countries successful Colombia, yet cowardly erstwhile it comes to protecting our chap migrants successful the United States,” helium said.

Maria del Mar Pizarro, a Historic Pact congresswoman, besides denounced de la Espriella’s plans successful an interrogation with Al Jazeera. She questioned whether the deportation run was astir information oregon discrimination.

“Foreign nationals who perpetrate crimes indispensable beryllium prosecuted,” she said. “But persecuting and deporting idiosyncratic — simply due to the fact that their migration presumption is not successful bid — is populism, not security.”

Given the porous quality of the astir 2,200-kilometre (1,370-mile) onshore borderline betwixt the 2 countries, Pizarro added that determination is small to halt deported Venezuelans from returning to Colombia.

“Without borderline control, legalisation and quality efforts against transgression gangs, the authorities pays for the deportation, and the occupation returns,” she said.

Senator Ivan Cepeda, who narrowly mislaid to Abelardo de la Espriella successful June’s statesmanlike race, has called his rival’s deportation argumentation xenophobic [Ivan Valencia/AP Photo]

Venezuelan diaspora fears argumentation implications

De la Espriella has announced that the deportation cognition volition statesman with a aviator programme successful the coastal metropolis of Barranquilla, which is location to an estimated 182,000 Venezuelans.

Members of the Venezuelan diaspora successful the city, however, fearfulness that the crackdown volition provender into stereotypes astir their community.

“We indispensable not confuse irregular migration presumption with criminality. They are 2 wholly antithetic things,” said Juan Carlos Viloria Doria, the vice president of Venezuelans successful Barranquilla, a migrant advocacy organisation.

While helium backed the request to prosecute those who perpetrate crimes, helium said the instrumentality should use to everyone “independent of nationality”.

Viloria besides noted that galore migrants could look governmental persecution if deported backmost to Venezuela.

Experts astatine the United Nations and different quality rights watchdogs person accused the Venezuelan authorities of “repressive” activities, including the arbitrary detention and torture of governmental dissidents.

“We person radical who near due to the fact that they believed their lives, their freedom, oregon their information were astatine risk,” Viloria explained. “Added to that are the economic, societal and humanitarian conditions that Venezuela inactive faces.”

Despite being location to the world’s largest petroleum reserves, Venezuela has suffered from a plummeting gross home merchandise (GDP) and rampant hyperinflation successful the past decade.

Critics of the governing United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) accidental it has presided implicit chronic economical mismanagement, funnelling lipid profits to a tiny elite portion underfunding nationalist services.

The Venezuelan government, however, argues it has been constrained by US sanctions, which person affected lipid revenue, commercialized and overseas investment.

Faced with Venezuela’s economical situation and threats of governmental persecution, immoderate 7.6 cardinal citizens person near the state since 2014, according to the UN.

Ronald Vergara moved to Colombia successful 2016 and founded Fundacion Hermanos Caminantes, a nongovernmental organisation that supports precocious arrived migrants. He fears however de la Espriella’s crackdown whitethorn harm an already struggling community.

“It would genuinely beryllium inhumane to deport radical who came present to past and to enactment – decent people, who relationship for the bulk of us,” helium told Al Jazeera.

Despite surviving successful Colombia for 10 years, Vergara was lone granted a Temporary Protection Permit a fewer months ago, owed to delays successful the system. He said that residing successful Colombia without papers constricted his opportunities.

“I ever felt excluded. I was ne'er capable to get a occupation that paid a decent wage,” helium explained.

Vergara besides said helium has seen cases wherever those who had a Temporary Protection Permit mislaid their ineligible presumption due to the fact that their individuality paper was mislaid oregon stolen. Thousands of others are inactive waiting to beryllium granted their papers, including his son.

“He’s 17 and astir to postgraduate from precocious school, but helium can’t postgraduate without the PPT,” said Vergara.

Venezuelan migrant Naomi Diaz sits connected a vessel with her children arsenic they question to the Colombian borderline successful February 2025 [AP Photo]

A departure from governmental tradition

De la Espriella’s announcement heralds a caller epoch of anti-immigrant authorities successful Colombia, according to experts.

Since the Venezuelan migration situation began, successive administrations successful Bogota person responded by offering caller arrivals assistance and opportunities for integration.

In 2017, for instance, then-President Juan Manuel Santos introduced a two-year impermanent licence for Venezuelans called the Special Permit of Permanence and bolstered humanitarian assistance connected the border.

His successor, right-wing person Ivan Duque, severed relations with Caracas successful 2019, closing the onshore borderline to vehicular postulation and suspending aerial travel. But helium inactive offered migrants the accidental to stay successful Colombia by rolling retired the PPT successful 2021.

Most recently, Colombia’s archetypal left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, presided implicit a thaw successful bilateral relations with Venezuela and adopted a pro-migrant stance. His presidency ended this year, with de la Espriella’s victory.

Ronal Rodriguez, a spokesperson astatine the Venezuela Observatory, a probe centre astatine Bogota’s Rosario University, said de la Espriella’s policies interrupt a years-long trend.

“Everyone had a favourable stance toward migration and, successful particular, utilized connection that promoted integration,” Rodriguez explained.

“Unfortunately, I judge that this ends – for the infinitesimal – with what President Abelardo de la Espriella is present saying.”

While the president has pledged a crackdown connected irregular migrants, the afloat details of his deportation level person yet to beryllium revealed.

For Rodriguez, de la Espriella whitethorn yet backmost down from his bold declarations.

He hopes that the president volition “reconsider and instrumentality to the Colombian government’s argumentation of integration”.