Author: Danielle Castano
August 6, 2024
Introduction
Over the past ten years, Colombia has become the primary destination for migrants and refugees escaping violence, political instability, and food shortages in Venezuela. Colombia currently hosts the third-largest population of refugees in the world (USA for UNHCR, 2024). Since the massive influx of migration, there has been a disproportionate increase of sexual exploitation of minors and the trafficking of Venezuelan migrants and refugees. Migrants and refugees are the most susceptible to becoming victims of trafficking and exploitation in border towns on the way to Colombia from Venezuela. However, this trend is shifting to popular tourist destinations and metropolitan cities in Colombia. While trafficking and sexual exploitation can affect everyone, migrants and refugees are especially susceptible due to limited awareness of their rights in a new country. This article focuses on the trafficking and sexual exploitation of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia.
Background
The political and economic instability in Venezuela in 2014 caused many to seek refuge in bordering countries. As of August 2023, roughly 7.7 million Venezuelans had fled the country with the majority settling in Latin America and the Caribbean (Muñoz-Pogossian and Winkler, 2023). Due to its proximity, Colombia received more than 3 million Venezuelans. In 2021, the Colombian government launched the Temporary Protection Status (TPS), which grants ten-year protection status to all Venezuelan refugees and migrants residing in Colombia (USA for UNHCR, 2024). The TPS provides access to services such as healthcare, education, and employment opportunities helping Venezuelan refugees and migrants integrate. While the Colombian government has provided employment support services, obtaining formal jobs has been difficult for Venezuelan refugees. Consequently, Venezuelan migrants are vulnerable to becoming victims of human trafficking and sexual exploitation due to the lack of employment opportunities. Criminal groups target women and minors by offering them jobs in hotels and restaurants before forcing them into sexual exploitation and retaining their passports. These criminal groups will threaten to kidnap the women’s children or threaten them with violence to secure compliance (Crisis Group, 2022). A report discovered that the number of Venezuelan migrants who were victims of trafficking was 20 percent higher during the first quarter of 2020 than for the entire year of 2019 (Martinez, 2020). More than 50 percent of jobs in Colombia are in the informal economy and the lack of available work during the COVID-19 pandemic only further increased the risk of human trafficking and exploitation.
Data and Government Response
The U.S. Department of State (2022) found that displaced Venezuelans, members of the LGBTQI+ community, Afro-Colombians, members of Indigenous communities, individuals with disabilities, internally displaced persons, and those living in areas with active illegal armed groups and criminal organizations were the groups most vulnerable to being trafficked. Migrants and refugees are susceptible to becoming victims of trafficking and exploitation because they often lack official documentation and sufficient awareness of their rights (CARE, 2021). The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that the rate of Venezuelan trafficking victims in Colombia has steadily increased since 2018 (UNODC, n.d.). Unfortunately, sex trafficking and exploitation of migrants are not issues unique to Colombia; they have increased in all countries Venezuelans have migrated to.
There are a few issues that interfere with preventing the trafficking and exploitation of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia. While the country has signed and passed several legal mechanisms to prosecute human traffickers and prevent human trafficking, impunity continues to persist. For example, only 52 out of 908 cases of human trafficking reported between 2011 and 2016 ended in convictions (Crisis Group, 2022). Furthermore, the resources to tackle human trafficking and sexual exploitation are already scarce in a country that is still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic. The country experienced the worst economic recession in its history due to the pandemic, its GDP contracting 7 percent in 2020 (Prada et al., 2022). By the end of 2022, Colombia had roughly 6.8 million Colombians displaced in their own country (USA for UNHCR, 2024). Unfortunately, all of these issues contribute to the inability of victims of trafficking and exploitation to get the help and justice they deserve.
Conclusion
Colombia has become the primary destination for Venezuelans trying to escape a myriad of issues in their country such as political instability, food and medicine shortages, and violence. However, the rise of exploitation and trafficking of Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia is especially concerning. The Colombian government has signed a protection status to help Venezuelan migrants and refugees receive healthcare, education, and employment opportunities. This population is already vulnerable to being victims of trafficking due to their limited awareness of their rights in a new country and the difficulty they face in finding formal job opportunities. These factors have left migrants and refugees more likely to be targeted by criminal groups near border towns and throughout metropolitan cities.
Glossary
Human trafficking- Is the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of people through force, fraud or deception, with the aim of exploiting them for profit.
Informal economy- Refers to all economic activities by workers and economic units that are – in law or in practice – not covered or insufficiently covered by formal arrangements.
Migrant- A person who moves away from his or her place of usual residence, whether within a country or across an international border, temporarily or permanently, and for a variety of reasons.
Refugee- A person who has fled their countries to escape conflict, violence, or persecution and have sought safety in another country.
Sources
CARE. (2021, July 1). Venezuelan Migrants at High Risk for Trafficking and Abuse. https://www.care.org/news-and-stories/press-releases/venezuelan-migrants-at-high-risk-for-trafficking-and-abuse/?-VQ6-454187803094-VQ16-c&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw7ZO0BhDYARIsAFttkCjS84qDX1fA0Ut-4pjYVJ9HGg2sesHB9QDoo5O2qY2nYh0Srrl6Mu4aAv6PEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Crisis Group. (2022, December 12). Hard Times in a Safe Haven: Protecting Venezuelan Migrants in Colombia. https://www.crisisgroup.org/latin-america-caribbean/andes/colombia-venezuela/hard-times-safe-haven-protecting-venezuelan
Martinez, M. (2020, July 2). COVID-19’s double dangers for Venezuelan women in Colombia. The New Humanitarian. https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/news-feature/2020/06/19/Colombia-Venezuela-coronavirus-women-migration-abuse
Muñoz-Pogossian, B., & Winkler, A. (2023, November 27). The Persistence of the Venezuelan Migrant and Refugee Crisis. CSIS. https://www.csis.org/analysis/persistence-venezuelan-migrant-and-refugee-crisis
Prada, S. I., Garcia-Garcia, M. P., & Guzman, J. (2022). COVID-19 response in Colombia: Hits and misses. Health Policy and Technology, 11(2), 100621. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2022.100621
UNODC. (n.d.). DP-trafficking-persons | data UNODC. United Nations. https://dataunodc.un.org/dp-trafficking-persons
USA for UNHCR. (2024, April 18). Colombia’s Refugee Crisis and Integration Approach Explained. https://www.unrefugees.org/news/colombia-s-refugee-crisis-and-integration-approach-explained/
U.S. Department of State. (2022). 2022 Trafficking in Persons Report: Colombia. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-trafficking-in-persons-report/colombia__trashed/