Temporary status for some Venezuelans amid crisis

BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Colombia said Friday it will grant temporary legal status to more than 150,000 Venezuelans who entered the country legally and overstayed their visas, due to the deteriorating political and economic crisis in their home country.

The measure is meant as a relief for those who entered with a passport at a border checkpoint but are now in the country illegally and unable to work, exposing them to potentially abusive employers and conditions.

The protection will be valid up to two years and let recipients work and receive social security benefits. Venezuelans must have entered on or before July 25 to qualify.

It does not apply for the estimated 100,000 or more Venezuelans who entered illegally through the nations’ porous, 1,370mile frontier, although officials are reviewing their situation. Migration agency director Christian Kruger said Colombia is closely watching migratory patterns ahead of Venezuela’s contentious Sunday vote for a special assembly that will be tasked with rewriting constitution. So far no changes have been noted, but Colombia has prepared contingency plans to handle a sudden influx such as sending 1,000 officials to border points.

“Each one of them knows where to go, which team they are with,” Kruger said. The Andean neighbors have historically had a fluid border relationship, with many crossing on a daily basis to go to school or work.

Decades ago 4 million Colombians migrated to Venezuela when their country was mired in armed conflict and Venezuela’s oil-rich economy was booming. More recently that tide has reversed, with many of those same migrants returning to Colombia to get away from triple-digit inflation, food and medical shortages and a homicide rate that is among the world’s highest.