At the foot of the Simon-Bolivar Bridge, which separates Colombia from Venezuela, the La Parada district is teeming with people in normal times. But on Saturday March 14, the border between the two countries was officially closed until May 30 due to coronavirus. Only a few stores have lifted their iron curtain. Street vendors have packed up. Popular canteens that offered free lunches have been closed. "Hunger will kill more people than Covid-19", José Luis Muñoz, spokesperson for the Humanitarian Aid Network for Migrants, which brings together several organizations on the ground.
In Bogota, Felipe Muñoz, director of borders, justifies: “We were forced to take measures to reduce mobility to avoid crowds of people on bridges and in front of border posts. " On the Colombian side, the army and the police have been deployed to try to control the "trochas", these dozens of clandestine paths which allow to cross from one country to another. Mr. Muñoz explains: "The border closure affects Venezuelans as much as Colombians. "
Almost half of the 55,000 people who cross the border every day to work or shop in Colombia – and return home at night – are dual citizens. Venezuela, rich in oil and peaceful, faced with the raging armed conflict in the neighboring country, welcomed thousands of Colombians before the economic crisis of recent years reversed the migratory flow.
Structurally saturated emergencies
Since the beginning of the year, the flow of migrants has slowed down. "It fell this week because the Venezuelan authorities are now controlling movements", explains Felipe Muñoz. Several states in Venezuela have been quarantined, including that of Tachira, along the border.
But there are still many Venezuelans who choose exile and Colombians who choose to return. "Probably several hundred a day", estimates an official of the High commission with the refugees. The 2,219-kilometer-long border is impossible to lock.
The director of the Erasmo-Meoz public hospital in Cucuta, a border town on the Colombian side, does not hide his anxiety. " I would not want to contribute to the general panic. But the situation looks daunting, sighs Doctor Juan Agustin Ramirez. If the European countries, with all the means at their disposal, are in difficulty, how can we believe that we will be able to avoid a tragedy here? " The doctor recalls that the occupancy rate of the emergency department of his hospital was 200%, even before the arrival of the coronavirus. And that patients die there for lack of artificial respirators. "The crisis in the public health system is national, reminds Mr. Ramirez. But here in Cucuta we face, in addition to all of our structural problems, the challenge of Venezuelan migration. I fear the worst in the coming months. ”
