The tourist city of Necoclí, a municipality in the department of Antioquia, Colombia, with access to the Caribbean Sea, faces «the worst crisis in its history» after the arrival of thousands of migrants who have collapsed basic services and are waiting for a safe conduct to continue their trip to the US.
The mayor of Necoclí, Jorge Tobón Castro, interviewed by Teleantioquia, said that the city is in a critical situation due to the presence of 10,000 migrants, mainly from Haiti and African countries, who are on the streets, and who use Colombia as a country of transit to continue their journey. Migration Colombian authorities ruled out that there is a humanitarian crisis, while recent images of agglomerations circulate on the networks.
From Necoclí you can go by sea to the town of Capurgana, in the department of Chocó, on the border with Panama, which is just over an hour away. This trip is currently made illegally for $ 50 due to restrictive measures due to the coronavirus, reports RT.
Faced with the loss of livelihoods, discrimination and the health situation generated by the pandemic, since the beginning of this year caravans of migrants have mobilized from countries such as Brazil and Peru to Central America, amidst the restrictions caused by the covid-19 and the refusal of the authorities to allow their passage. This panorama has generated moments of tension and a complex humanitarian situation without much echo in the media.
What is happening in Necoclí, Colombia?
The mayor of that Colombian municipality affirms that 800 migrants arrive every day. «In trucks, in motorcycles, on foot». According to his calculations, if this rhythm is maintained, in a month there would be about 24,000 people in Necoclí, whose urban area is made up of 22,000 inhabitants. «We fear that a health emergency will present itself to us», he adds.
The local authority assures that it has asked both Migration and the Foreign Ministry to attend to this crisis, «which is getting worse», but has not received a response. «They are not listening to us».
Tobón Castro says that since 2020 he has requested that there be an immigration control point in that city, without success. In his opinion, «the irregular situation» has arisen because the migrants have not received a safe conduct since last year to continue on their way.
“Their goal is to get to the US as quickly as possible, they come with very limited resources, no vaccines. We are desperate», he said.
The fact that these migrants cannot continue to Central America means that the so-called ‘coyotes’, who transport these people in an irregular manner, take advantage of the situation and offer to transfer them, putting their safety and life at risk.
Migration’s response
The director general of Migration Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinoza Palacios, affirms that safe conducts have been delivered and denies that there are 10,000 migrants stranded in that municipality. The mayor dismisses this statement.
According to the institution’s website, more than 25,000 irregular migrants have been located, this year, in different ways to continue their journey to the United States and a group of officers traveled to the Colombian municipality last week «to review the situation».
However, in a video shared on the Twitter account of the director of the medium La Vorágine, which would have been recorded last Monday, a multitude of people is seen crowded in front of a Migration barrier.
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