Despite suffering a slight congenital deviation in one of her legs, Yarelis Robertis (21-year-old) resolved to leave Venezuela and undertook her journey on foot with the purpose of reaching the Peruvian territory.  “I was going crazy with the situation: seeing your mother sick, seeing myself getting sick and having no means to buy medicines, is difficult to endure”.

After crossing the Simón Bolívar border bridge, Yarelis rested for one day in Cúcuta and, afterwards, walked three and a half days until she reached the city of Bucaramanga, where Colombians offered her food and shelter while encouraging her to continue her journey. 

In her own words, she had to leave Venezuela as money was scarce for both her family and herself, to buy food. “My grandma and my mother are the only people I have in Venezuela.  My grandmother is a teacher in primary schooling and, what she earns is insufficient to satisfy her own needs”.

Although Yarelis started the trip on her own, afterwards, her boyfriend joined her. Together, they traversed Colombian driveways heading south. One in Cali (Province of Valle del Cauca) they settled in a makeshift camp, not far from the city Bus Terminal, where they found many families and Venezuelans sleeping in tents and huts.

Friar Francisco Nel Leudo, Head of the Social Pastoral in the Cali Archdiocese indicates that, “every day, some 120 Venezuelans arrive to the city”, most of them camping with fellow citizens in the camp setup in nearby zones of the Cauca River, known as ‘Jarillón de Cali’.

In order to reach Ecuador and, thereafter, other South American territories, Venezuelans are required to cross the check point located at the Rumichaca International Bridge in the city of Ipiales (Province of Nariño). Cali and Rumichaca are more than 478 km away, a distance which may take over 9 hours by car.

Daily, a number of Colombian citizens come to the ‘Jarillón de Cali’ sectors to offer food, clothing and toiletries for Venezuelans. Both the Mayor’s Office and the Social Pastoral in Cali encouraged such expressions of solidarity, further channeled through communication media.  Nevertheless, given that the situation was becoming a public order and public health issue with humanitarian aspects involved, several organisms and institutions joined their efforts to provide an appropriate, dignified and timely solution, by means of an operation of humanitarian relocation.

Thus, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) – with financial support from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) conducted a joint operation with Migración Colombia, the People’s Ombudsman Office, the Governor’s Office of Valle del Cauca, the Mayor’s Office of Santiago de Cali, the Cali Archdiocese, the Social Pastoral, the Scalabrinians Missionaries, the Fundación Casa de la Tercera Edad, the International Red Cross, the World Food Program (WFP) and other partners. The operation, conducted in July-August 2018, facilitated the crossing of over 600 Venezuelans from Cali to the Rumichaca International Bridge.

“Consistently with the duties of each entity from the Mayor’s Office and the city, (...) we have been very attentive to everything related to Venezuelans. The Social Welfare Secretariat has provided support to the IOM and have worked hand-in-hand in the categorization. Similarly, the Health Secretariat has provided assistance in different fields of action.  In reference to the processes and treatment accorded to Venezuelans in Cali, Martha Lucía Díaz Torres, representative of the city Security and Justice Secretariat sustains that “the Security and Justice Secretariat has worked alongside with the Metropolitan Police Department of Cali”.

As a first step, Venezuelans living in the sector known as ‘Jarillón de Cali’ were taken to a community eatery/shelter setup at Fundación para el Adulto Mayor, where they were provided with food and sanitary and shower facilities. The IOM staff kicked-off the categorization phase, in view of identifying core features, claims and concerns. Likewise, individuals willing to cross towards other South American territories like Ecuador, Peru and Chile were also identified.

Following the categorization, migrants and their families were transferred to the headquarters of Migración Colombia, where migration formalities would be completed.

In the final stage, the IOM provided buses to facilitate the transit of Venezuelans from Cali to Ipiales, where the Scalabrinians Missionaries would host them in foster homes and appropriate conditions – i.e., breakfast and sanitary and shower facilities, beds to rest and personal hygiene kits. Afterwards, they would be transferred to the frontier corridor with Ecuador. 

This voluntary transfer allowed more than 600 people, including men, women, children and elderly, to continue their journey under dignified and human conditions. 

In one of the buses, after completing the registration and categorization formalities, Yarelis Robertis and her boyfriend continued their path towards Ipiales. “I am headed towards Peru, where my sister-in-law is waiting for me. We will all three help and support each other and we will go ahead with our plans and succeed”.