Is Colombia a ticking time bomb?
https://thehill.com/opinion/international/470980-is-colombia-a-ticking-time-bomb
Next year, the number of Venezuelans fleeing their country will overtake the Syrian exodus. To date, more than 4 million have left. One-third of these refugees and migrants are sheltering in Colombia, which has maintained a very generous open-door policy.
However, the strain is beginning to show. We were recently in Colombia, where a senior international official told us, Colombia is a now a ticking time bomb.
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Unlike early arrivals, Venezuelans streaming into Colombia today arrive with little more than the shirt on their backs. Many are malnourished. So are most babies born to Venezuelan women who make it to Colombia. Many have chronic illnesses like diabetes, cancer, or HIV for which they cannot be treated at home. Trafficking in women and girls and child labor are also on the rise.
All this puts heavy pressure on parts of Colombias health-care system. The Erasmo Meoz public hospital in the border town of Cúcuta has delivered free emergency care to about 13,000 Venezuelans so far this year, but the government has failed to reimburse the hospital for those expenses. Nor can the hospitals 600 beds accommodate all who need care. Some patients lay in beds under a tarp in the heat of the parking lot.