Name? Iván Duque
Westphalian identity? Colombian
Age? 44
Why is he in the news? President Iván Duque of Colombia announced Monday that his government will provide a 10-year legal status to the more than 1.7 million Venezuelan migrants who have fled to Colombia in recent years.
Why do we care? This decision is life-changing for 1,7 million people but also acknowledges that the situation within Venezuela will not be resolved any time soon. Maduro’s grab on power is tight and has only been strengthened since the opposition around Juan Guaidó is no longer represented in the parliament.
Why should you care? There are about 80 million forcibly displaced people in the world (roughly the size of Turkey, population-wise), and their situation is typically terrible: Syrians in Turkey, Rohingya in Bangladesh or the Tigrayans in Sudan. So when a country is gracious enough to improve the situation and legal status of refugees, you should like that. On our How much should you care scale this gets a 9/10.
Who else cares? Head of the U.N. Refugee Agency Filippo Grandi. History tends to treat acts like Duque’s decision very favourably. After its announcement, the decision was hailed by Grandi as “historic” and “the most important humanitarian gesture” in the region in decades.
Any further comments? This will most likely create domestic backlash for the conservative politicians as Venezuelan refugees are not the favourite thing of Colombians as they are regarded as competition on the job market. However, it will make matters a lot easier for the Colombian government as Venezuelans will no longer fall through social security, the legal economy and, more importantly for Duque, security (legal prosecution). At the same time, he hopes for neighbouring countries to act similarly in order to avoid an increased stream of refugees to Colombia.
