Immigration in Colombia

By Victor Alfonso Herrera Herrera

The composition of immigrants in Colombia has been the same since 30 years before;
35% comes from Venezuela, 15% comes from the US and 10% comes from Ecuador,
following for Spain and Peru. However, issues related to immigration have increased
recently because of economic and political hardships in Venezuela, who have obliged
thousands of people fleeing this country. According to Felipe Muñoz, from the
Presidency of Colombia, in 2019 Colombia had 1.4 million Venezuelans, followed by
Peru (768.000), Chile (288.000), and Ecuador (263.000).
Push factors of Venezuelan immigration are related to the shortage of food, the
necessity of better economic resources to support their families, and the unsafety.
Colombia is the main destiny because of geographic proximity and both countries have
had a strong relationship of fraternity along the time. Another pull factor is because
Colombia is a country of transit to other countries in Latin America. These pull factors
are very different for immigrants from other countries like the US. In this case, they
choose Colombia for recreational tourism, business tourism, and education. The
weather and multicultural wealth are the main reasons to live in Colombia. This kind of
immigration brings good benefits to the economy, and the government promotes it.
However, the Venezuelan immigration in Colombia and other countries of Latin
American brings different effects in comparison to countries with a great economy like
the US, and some people think that disadvantages are more than advantages. Alberto
Ramos, from Goldman Sanchs, says that the impact over these countries is a budgetary
problem. The government of Colombia assumes most of the expenses. Health care is
the most affected area; some people come to get the care and go back to Venezuela.
Also, the massive arrival of children obligates the government to increase school seats.
Finally, immigrants create pressure over employment and it makes salaries go down.
On the other side, there are advantages of immigration in Colombia. It could be an
opportunity for the economy. The World Bank considers that the economic benefits of
immigration beat every increase in demand over public services. “Immigrants can
reactivate economies in different ways: they can bring innovation, ideas, and inversion”,
said Alberto Rodriguez. Something is sure, immigration to Colombia will continue, so
politics of economic and social inclusion are necessary, that allow new Colombians to
contribute with our development and to provide them a better lifestyle.
Sources:
Ángel Bermúdez. Cómo impacta la crisis migratoria venezolana en la economía de otros
países de América Latina. https://www.bbc.com/mundo/noticias-america-latina-
49119834
Bloomberg News. Los beneficios de la migración venezolana.
https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/economia/los-beneficios-de-la-migracion-
venezolana/
David Pérez-Reyna. Inmigración en Colombia: pongámosle atención.
https://www.portafolio.co/opinion/otros-columnistas-1/inmigracion-en-colombia-
pongamosle-atencion-analisis-505575