This is what he referred to Vice Chancellor Francisco Cui During a press conference in which he confirmed that this migration flow had been monitored since last October It works like this: migrants buy flights from Avianca or Turkish Airlines that leave them in Colombia and from there. They leave for El Salvador or Nicaragua to continue the overland route to the United States.

Colombia is their transit country and their final destination is the north of the continent, but these residents decided to take the air route to avoid crossing through the Darién Gap, a more dangerous route that involves crossing the jungle.

“A lot of what we see They are the people who come on the daily Turkish flight [Airlines]. What we were talking about yesterday with the authorities, and with the airline, is that approximately 80% of the people arriving on that flight are from African countries, “With the intention of continuing north and not staying in Colombia,” Francisco Cui explained.

“These people are making this choice to avoid going through Darien. The barrier to accessing this route is clearly an economic one, because migration is very expensive. We discovered this movement a little over a month and a half ago, because One Central American country, El Salvador, changed its immigration regulations and began charging right-of-way fees of more than $1,000. “Which led to massive congestion at El Dorado Airport on the weekend, because the change in procedure was not notified,” the Vice Chancellor said.

What is clear is that these transient migrants pass through Bogotá because of this Colombian regulations allow them to remain in the country for up to 24 hours, In the area designated for passengers at the airport, as they take off towards their next destination.

“Transit visas allow you to stay in the country for only 24 hours, and we find that many people who arrive have connections lasting between 24 and 48 hours, which means that Some of them continue to regulate traffic beyond what custom allows, and we find that there are some things in the organization that need to be amended. But we won’t do that about racing. “We are studying,” the official explained.

But these violations of immigration regulations are not the responsibility of migrants, but rather the responsibility of airlines. In the words of Vice Chancellor Coy: “There are very long connection times that are not necessarily the responsibility of the people traveling, but the airlines.” In some cases they do not meet the final destination reward requirements. In Colombia, they must check if they have the payment (to enter El Salvador) and the required documents at their final destination.

Specifically, what the authorities discovered is that citizens of African countries land in Bogota between 3:00 and 3:30 pm on a Turkish Airlines flight that lands daily directly from Istanbul. These passengers remain at the station until they take their next itinerary.

“What is seen It’s not necessarily a migration crisis or anything like that. It’s a crowding issue. The Deputy Minister explained that it is closely linked to the end-of-year season and the very long periods of contact between arrival and the next flight.

On May 23, 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a decision allowing citizens of 27 countries in Africa, Asia and Central America to pass through Colombia without the need for an entry visa. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that no direct relationship has been identified between this measure and the arrival of African migrants at El Dorado Airport.