August 2001

Refugees Flee Across the Borders

In late 2000, some 12,000 displaced Colombians, mostly from Putumayo, fled to Ecuador. In conjunction with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and local church groups, the authorities provided shelter and assistance. Most subsequently returned to a different area of Colombia, but in early 2001, more than 1,300 refugees remained in Ecuador.

But crossing the border is no guarantee of safety. Venezuela’s treatment of Colombian refugees has been the harshest in the region. Since mid-1999, the Venezuelan authorities have involuntarily returned more than 2000 asylum-seekers. As a signatory to the 1967 UN Refugee Protocol, which prohibits forced repatriation, Venezuela has no right to refuse these Colombians, most of whom are trying to escape from paramilitaries in the Catatumbo region of the Norte De Santander Department, which borders Venezuela’s Zulia State. Until recently, the FARC controlled this important coca-growing area; the AUC has waged a war for its capture.

At various times in 2000, the Venezuela government denied that Colombian refugees were in the country, even though their presence had been reported in the media. The Interior Minister went so far as to accuse UNHCR—which has visited the refugees on the border--of inventing the arrival of the Colombians in order to justify its own role there. UNHCR has been so troubled by Venezuela’s continued refusal to permit access to the refugees, that it is considering withdrawing its regional office from Caracas.

In late January 2001, 400 Colombians, most of them members of the Motilon Bari indigenous group, sought refuge in Venezuela after paramilitaries attacked their home area. Although local authorities in Zulia State acknowledged their entry, and a local church provided assistance, the central government again officially denied the Colombians’ arrival and blocked UNHCR access to the group. The Venezuelan authorities later returned the refugees to Colombia.

Seeking Asylum in the United States

In the year 2000, an estimated 225,000 Colombians emigrated abroad; over the last five years, more than one million have left the country. Those who depart for the United States and Europe are primarily middle class people who fear–or have already been subjected to–kidnapping or extortion, primarily by the guerrillas. They too encounter hardships in the countries to which they migrate.

Only a minority of the Colombians who seek refuge in the United States apply for asylum. In 2000, 3,400 Colombians applied. (4,400 applied for asylum in Europe, Canada, and Costa Rica). Most fear that if they are turned down, they will be deported to Colombia. In fact, the United States granted asylum to 68 percent of Colombian applicants in 2000, a substantial increase over the 19 percent granted asylum just two years before.

During the first four months of 2001, there has been a significant increase in the number of Colombians who do apply for asylum. Between January and early April, more than 1,000 Colombians applied for asylum in Miami alone–120 applied on just one day.

Most Colombians arrive in the United States on six-month tourist visas; when their visas expire they lose their legal status, which forces them into the informal economy, where they are subject to exploitation and the constant fear of being found and deported.

The U.S. government could grant Colombians Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a means of humanitarian relief that prevents individuals from being deported to a country where they would be at risk owing to ongoing armed conflict. In the past, the United States has granted TPS to Salvadorans, Liberians, Bosnians, Sierra Leoneans and others from countries in turmoil. The Clinton Administration refused to grant Colombians this humanitarian protection; the Bush Administration has yet to consider TPS for Colombians.