Covid-19 impact to vulnerable population: A quick look at the case of Venezuelans migrants in Colombia.

The current Covid-19 crisis has created an immense challenge for governments around the world in trying to balance the stability of the health care system and the economic distress measures such as quarantines have. These actions, despite their necessity have also highlighted internal inequalities that may have been hidden from the public agenda and has shown the incredible stress this type of situations put on vulnerable populations.

Out of these populations, migrants are caught in the middle. Colombia, for example, has been getting an big influx of Venezuelan for the past years, with more than 1 million and 825 thousand  of Venezuelans (Colombian Migration Office, February 2020). Despite the efforts and the international help the Colombian government has been getting, Venezuelans face many difficulties in Colombia, ranging from health care to proper living conditions, problems that have only increased during the crisis.

Colombia with one of the most inclusive health systems in the region, establishing universal coverage even for those who are unable to pay has been struggling in order to guarantee medical coverture for Venezuelans. Even before the Covid-19 crisis started, the Colombian Constitutional Court, reminded the government the need to guarantee the full realization of the right to health to every migrant, without any regards to their legal status, especially those in a more vulnerable position like children and pregnant women.

That difficulty has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, where as health centers start filling up, the first ones to get denied attention are Venezuelan migrants, especially those that have an irregular legal situation. This neglect on behalf of many of the health care facilities results in not only endangering and denying them their fundamental rights but also those surrounding them. The Inter American Commission on Human Rights has also expressed its concern about the Covid-19 pandemics as being used by States to evade their obligations and reminds States that, the measures taken to tackle the virus must not result in an obstacle to access the protection instruments (IACHR, March 2020), like healthcare.

In trying to tackle this difficulty, the national government has issued a recommendation document were it establishes that all the organisms in the health care system need to adopt inclusive and non discriminatory actions towards the Venezuelans, given that any discrimination may hinder the treatment to those affected by the virus and can pose an even greater dissemination threat (Presidencia de la República, 2020).

On the other hand, migrants face the problem of finding decent living conditions. Many of them, had resorted to living in tiny rooms in the most depressed areas of the big cities, especially the capital Bogotá, where they can pay around 3 euros a day. Now, given that their main line of work is mainly selling on the street or recycling, and because of  the decisions taken by the Colombian government in Decree 417 of March 17^th, 2020 were it was declared the State of Emergency and Decree 457 of March 18^th, 2020 were it was declared the mandatory preventive isolation to everyone on Colombian territory by March 25^th, 2020, many Venezuelans (and Colombians) have seen their main source of income disappear, hindering them from enough money to pay those rooms and to eat.

The housing issue has been addressed both the national government and the regional government in Bogotá, where decrees have been issued, establishing that evictions resulting from unpaid bills are illegal and lessors are not allowed to raise their prices during the national lock-down measures. Also, in the Colombian capital, empty spaces like sports arenas have began to be adjusted in order to give a place to stay to homeless people disregarding their nationalities.

The aforementioned difficulties are just two of many of the problems that are being faced by Venezuelans migrants in Colombia. As the crisis continues and measures in order to contain the spread are kept in place, difficulties might keep escalating as divergences in approach and availability of resources have to be tackle both by the regional and national government. It is important to remember, the duty of States towards the migrant population and while the Colombian government (national and regional) appears to be addressing the issues, it is too early to tell if those policies will protect their human rights.