Afghans arriving in Colombia would stay in Bogotá, Barranquilla and Bolívar: Duque

After holding a press conference during which he confirmed that Colombia would grant asylum to Afghan migrants fleeing the Taliban power which has just seized their country, the President of the Republic Iván Duque has reportedly offered new information on the cities to which they will be sent, temporarily, these people.

At least this is what the information system of RCN Radio reports, which assured that the Head of State had warned, during his trip on Friday August 20, to Barranquilla that the mayor of this city, that of Bogotá (Claudia López) and the governor of Bolívar, have expressed their desire to give asylum to migrants, who will cross the country while the United States adjusts its immigration status.

In his words:

“Today I received a communication from several mayors, here the mayor of Barranquilla, Mr. Jaime Pumarejo, expressed his interest to me, the governor of Bolívar, Dr. Vicente Blel, expressed his interest and the mayor from Bogotá who also called me and expressed interest in collaborating, and how are you collaborating? Looking for those logistics facilities which, as I said, will be paid for by the United States. “

It should be noted that a quick glance at the social networks of said officials, those of their respective administrations, as well as their websites, shows no reaction from the three regarding the announcement made this afternoon in conjunction with the United States Ambassador to Colombia, Philip S. Goldberg.

In fact, there has been no reaction to the announcement by other political leaders interested in assuming the presidency of Colombia. like Gustavo Petro, Sergio Fajardo or Óscar Iván Zuluaga. If she spoke on the subject, on the other hand, it was the country’s Vice-President and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marta Lucía Ramírez, who, via Twitter, stressed that:

“Colombia reaffirms its solidarity with the Afghan people, in particular with women who fear the restriction of their freedoms. We support the United States in their 100% funded initiative to welcome Afghan citizens in transit to the United States. Solidarity and humanity, values ​​of Colombia ”.

It should be remembered that, as President Duque explained this afternoon, “today what we started to build at the highest level with the United States is coming to fruition today, and that is Colombia is also joining the group of allied countries that will offer support to the United States for Afghan nationals, who have provided aid to the United States for years and are in the process of registering and transferring immigration to this country, so that they can be temporarily in Colombia ”.

According to Duque, these tasks will be carried out in close coordination with the North American country, given the fact that it is he who will bear all the costs of supporting these migrants, as well as the acceleration of the processes necessary for the refugees to return quickly, within the allotted time, to the United States, to regularize their migratory situation.

For his part, the ambassador of this nation described as generous the collaboration announced by Duque and declared that, “Thank you for responding to the call to provide humanitarian support to the Afghan citizens who have worked with us. to spread democracy and freedom in a region where these fundamental values, dear to our two countries, are rare ”.

So far, there is no certainty on how many migrants will arrive in the country, let alone on their arrival date or how long they will stay before reaching the United States. However, a Wall Street Journal report assures that Colombia will receive a total of 4,000 Afghans.

KEEP READING: