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'Living a daily tragedy': Venezuelans struggle to survive in Colombia
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/nov/01/living-a-daily-tragedy-venezuelans-struggle-to-survive-in-colombiaMaicao’s streets are bursting with homeless Venezuelans taking refuge. Mothers with small children sleep on flattened-out cardboard boxes on dirty pavements. Drug use and sex work are rife and resources are scarce. The central market is one of the main areas in which they reside.
Since Venezuela’s economic collapse began under the presidency of Nicolás Maduro in 2016, violence, insecurity and a severe lack of basic food and medicine have caused more than 4 million people to flee. An estimated 1.5 million have settled in Colombia.
About 59,500 have settled in Maicao, smaller in size and with less public infrastructure than the more popular migrant entry point of Cúcuta, and it’s struggling to cope.
A UN assessment of Venezuelans’ living conditions in Maicao found almost half were living on the streets, or in informal settlements in and around the city.
