HomeNewsBriefColombia's Armed Groups Prey on Venezuela Migrants

A new report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on violence in the department of Norte de Santander, Colombia, shows how vulnerable Venezuelan migrants are to the criminal groups that dominate the region.

The report, entitled “The War in Catatumbo” and published August 8, documents abuses by armed groups against Venezuelan and Colombian civilians in Norte de Santander's Catatumbo region in northeast Colombia along the border with Venezuela. It explains that groups like the National Liberation Army (Ejército de Liberación Nacional - ELN), the Popular Liberation Army (Ejército Popular de Liberación - EPL), and the dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia - FARC), are responsible for am uptick in killings and other crimes. 

The affected Venezuelan citizens live in Catatumbo’s urban areas, including the municipalities of Tibú, Ocaña, El Tarra, Ábrego, Convención and Sardinata. In these areas, the migrants -- including many minors and women -- live in precarious conditions which leave them at the mercy of criminals, according to HRW.

“We have documented on the ground that armed groups in Catatumbo commit all types of abuses: murders, disappearances, kidnappings, recruitment of minors, sexual violations, threats and displacements,” HRW Director José Miguel Vivanco told Semana.

SEE ALSO: Colombia News and Profile

There are currently close to 25,000 Venezuelans in Catatumbo who, despite being aware of the security risks in the region, have crossed the border in search of work, food and medicine, according to Vivanco. The Venezuelans have arrived as tens of thousands of Catatumbo's residents have been displaced by the conflict among the various armed groups.

Desperate, the migrants find themselves caught in areas where these groups are vying for territory and control of criminal economies.

InSight Crime Analysis

Migratory controls are limited in several of Catatumbo’s towns. Colombian criminal groups take advantage of the poverty and displacement of the Venezuelans flowing across the border, recruiting them into Norte de Santander's criminal economies. 

Faced with the need to find work, many Venezuelan migrants end up involved in some part of the drug production chain in order to survive, according to HRW.  

On-the-ground sources confirmed to InSight Crime that Venezuelans have largely displaced the local “raspachines” — workers who gather coca leaves  — because they will accept lower pay. Payments can range between $100 to $300 per month, an income that is hard to come by in Venezuela. 

In many cases, the workers harvesting the coca are minors, both Venezuelan and Colombian, while many young women are recruited into prostitution rings as soon as they cross the border. 

SEE ALSO: Colombia’s Drug Strategy Paradox – Less Coca Crops, More Cocaine

Also contributing to the Venezuelans' vulnerability is their immigration status.

Officials with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on the border city of Cúcuta told InSight Crime that fear of being deported or arrested keeps Venezuelan nationals from seeking help from local authorities. 

Their near-invisibility, in addition to the deprivations that caused them to migrate in the first place, make these newly arrived Venezuelans all the more vulnerable to the predations of crime groups. 

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CHILE / 16 NOV 2022

The capture of Tren de Aragua members will test if Peru and Chile’s prisons can hold this dangerous gang.

CHINA AND CRIME / 14 MAY 2021

When hundreds of skinned donkeys appeared on Colombia’s northern coast without explanation, locals, and later authorities, started asking questions.

CARTEL OF THE SUNS / 2 MAY 2022

In 2020, the US Department of Justice released a bombshell indictment charging sitting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and other senior…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Continues to be Highlighted

3 MAR 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-director Jeremy McDermott was the featured guest on the Americas Quarterly podcast, where he provided an expert overview of the changing dynamics…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela's Organized Crime Top 10 Attracts Attention

24 FEB 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published its ranking of Venezuela’s ten organized crime groups to accompany the launch of the Venezuela Organized Crime Observatory. Read…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime on El País Podcast

10 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime co-founder, Jeremy McDermott, was among experts featured in an El País podcast on the progress of Colombia’s nascent peace process.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Interviewed by Associated Press

3 FEB 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s Co-director Jeremy McDermott was interviewed by the Associated Press on developments in Haiti as the country continues its prolonged collapse. McDermott’s words were republished around the world,…

THE ORGANIZATION

Escaping Barrio 18

27 JAN 2023

Last week, InSight Crime published an investigation charting the story of Desafío, a 28-year-old Barrio 18 gang member who is desperate to escape gang life. But there’s one problem: he’s…