Columbia has confirmed that it expelled 34,000 illegal immigrants in 2016, including more than 20,000 Haitians.
Director of Immigration of Colombia, Christian Krüger, said that the illegal immigrants were arrested mainly in the departments of Antioquia, Nariño, Valle del Cauca, Cauca and Risaralda where the main road corridors are used by the networks of smugglers.
“The number of irregular migrants assumed by the Colombian migration services in 2016 is almost four times more than in 2015,” said Kruger.
The authorities said that last year, they expelled 20,366 Haitians, 8,167 Cubans, 874 Indians, 570 Congolese and 553 Nepalese.
Kruger said that Colombia because of its geographical position is used as a passage for all migrants seeking to reach Central or North America.
“We are not the cause, nor the origin of this phenomenon, but to ensure the safety and integrity of these migrants we have had to increase our controls and work on regional strategies to combat this phenomenon and we have a zero tolerance policy against all smugglers who benefit (and) make a profit.”
Kruger said that on average each irregular migrant pays between US$2,000 and US$2,500 to the smugglers to cross the country.
He said the foreigners arrive with false documents, pretending to be Colombians, in order to access boats to travel to Central America.
SOURCE: Jamaican Observer
