VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA/BORDER Colombians denounce treatment as border crisis with Venezuela intensifies

Record ID: 142707

  • Title: VENEZUELA-COLOMBIA/BORDER Colombians denounce treatment as border crisis with Venezuela intensifies
  • Date: 25th August 2015
  • Summary: CUCUTA, COLOMBIA (AUGUST 25, 2015) (REUTERS) WIDE OF COLOMBIANS CROSSING RIVER ALONG BORDER BETWEEN COLOMBIA AND VENEZUELA WITH PERSONAL BELONGINGS THEY'RE ABLE TO SALVAGE COLOMBIAN POLICE HELPING COLOMBIANS OVER RIVER WITH BELONGINGS VARIOUS OF COLOMBIANS CROSSING RIVER WITH BELONGINGS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN AFFECTED BY BORDER SITUATION, JUAN MANUEL ARTEAGA, SAYING: "What we are experiencing here is totally dramatic, there's no way to describe it because this is not the way to get a human being out of his or her house. Yes we are in a foreign country, but they can't treat us like this, they didn't let us gather any of our belongings and now some people have to leave in a hurry because the military comes, or doesn't come and that itself is a problem because one lives in anguish." VARIOUS OF COLOMBIANS CROSSING RIVER WITH THEIR BELONGINGS AND WALKING TOWARDS CUCUTA VARIOUS OF COLOMBIAN FAMILIES AND CHILDREN IN TEMPORARY HOUSING AFTER BEING FORCED TO LEAVE VENEZUELA VARIOUS OF WOMAN LOOKING AFTER HER SMALL CHILD IN TEMPORARY HOUSING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN AFFECTED BY BORDER SITUATION, GLORIA RUEDA, SAYING: "They treated us like rats, we had to scurry away like rats, unworthy, inhuman. (They should) give us the right to leave in a truck on the international bridge, go on the highway, to take our things in a truck so they don't get damaged and let us come back here to organise our life but at a minimum, they should let us take our things. The truth is, I don't want to go back (to live in Venezuela)." GENERAL OF TEMPORARY HOUSING FOR COLOMBIANS WHO HAVE BEEN DEPORTED FROM VENEZUELA VARIOUS OF CHILDREN READING A BOOK IN TEMPORARY HOUSING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) COLOMBIAN AFFECTED BY BORDER SITUATION, JOHANA ECHEVERRI, SAYING: "Why would anyone want to go where you aren't wanted? Where they've treated us like garbage, where they've insulted us, where they've been beaten up . They (the Venezuelans) have beaten up a lot of people badly, they've been mistreated. The mistreatment hasn't just been physical but also psychological mistreatment as well." BRIDGE CONNECTING COLOMBIA WITH VENEZUELA SIGN ON SIMON BOLIVAR INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE VARIOUS OF COLOMBIAN POLICE GUARDING BORDER CLOSED BY VENEZUELA CLOSE-UP OF WIRE USED TO CLOSE BORDER VARIOUS OF VENEZUELAN POLICE ON BRIDGE
  • Embargoed: 9th September 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Colombia
  • Country: Colombia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA44JD3IT00HR780AA3I8I0IYIA
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Colombians who had been living in Venezuela crossed the river back to their native Colombia on Tuesday (August 25) amid rising tensions along the Venezuela-Colombia border.
    Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro shut two border crossings after a shootout between smugglers and troops wounded three soldiers. He later extended the closing indefinitely and stepped up deportations of Colombians in what he said was an effort to crack down on paramilitary gangs.
    Since the border crossings were closed, more than 1,000 Colombians have been deported from Venezuela, including some minors who were separated from their parents, a Colombian immigration official told Reuters.
    "What we are experiencing here is totally dramatic, there's no way to describe it because this is not the way to get a human being out of his or her house. Yes we are in a foreign country, but they can't treat us like this, they didn't let us gather any of our belongings and now some people have to leave in a hurry because the military comes, or doesn't come and that itself is a problem because one lives in anguish," said one Colombian who had been affected by the situation, Juan Manuel Arteaga.
    Expulsions, deportations and repatriations of Colombians from Venezuela have more than doubled this year to 3,800, officials from Migration Colombia told Reuters, from 1,820 in 2014.
    Colombian Gloria Reuda said she felt she been treated like an animal by Venezuelan authorities and didn't plan on returning to the country.
    "They treated us like rats, we had to scurry away like rats, unworthy, inhuman. (They should) give us the right to leave in a truck on the international bridge, go on the highway, to take our things in a truck so they don't get damaged and let us come back here to organise our life but at a minimum, they should let us take our things. The truth is, I don't want to go back (to live in Venezuela)." she said.
    Some five million Colombians live in Venezuela. Dozens of them returned to Colombia voluntarily over the weekend, according to officials and news reports.
    Many of those who recently left Venezuela - whether voluntarily or due to deportation - are now living in temporary housing in Cucuta, Colombia, located along the border.
    Johana Echeverri alleged that many Colombians had experienced abuse from Venezuelan authorities while in the country.
    "Why would anyone want to go where you aren't wanted? Where they've treated us like garbage, where they've insulted us, where they've been beaten up . They (the Venezuelans) have beaten up a lot of people badly, they've been mistreated. The mistreatment hasn't just been physical but also psychological mistreatment as well," said the Colombian woman.
    The porous 2,219-kilometer (1,379-mile) frontier is frequently traversed by smugglers moving price-fixed goods from Venezuela to Colombia for profit, as well as illegal armed groups.
    But the Colombian Foreign and Interior ministries issued a joint statement on Tuesday (August 25) saying that shutting the crossings and deporting Colombians would not solve security problems along the border, adding that dialogue was the path to a solution.
    The two countries' foreign ministers will meet on Wednesday (August 26) to discuss the situation, both countries said.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register