Page 12 - aruba-today-20181217

A12 WORLD NEWS
Monday 17 deceMber 2018

Exodus from Venezuela leaves families divided across borders

By CHRISTINE ARMARIO together often find them-
SCOTT SMITH selves separated, whether
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — by agents at the border or
When Emili Espinoza was fi- deportation orders issued
nally able to make a video years or decades later.
call to the 3-year-old son The impact can vary de-
she hadn't seen since flee- pending on age and
ing Venezuela, the little length of time apart, said
boy named Elvis didn't rec- Joanna Dreby, an associ-
ognize her. ate professor of sociology
"No," he told her. "My mom at the University at Alba-
is sleeping." ny, State University of New
That cold denial sent a York. Babies and toddlers
shiver of sadness down her are at an age where bond-
spine. She reminded him ing is considered crucial
of the chocolate-covered and little is known about
bananas she used to buy the long-term impact of
him, hoping to trigger a separation. Middle-school
memory. But his young aged children, meanwhile,
mind couldn't grasp the tend to suffer the most ad-
recollection. verse consequences. They
His mother wasn't the are old enough to know
28-year-old woman with In this Dec. 11, 2018 photo, Venezuelan migrant Emili Espinoza commutes back home after a what's going on, but may
almond-colored eyes star- day's work at a health food restaurant in Bogota, Colombia. not totally understand their
ing at him through a cell Associated Press parent's rationale in choos-
phone screen, he insisted, ing to be apart.
but the young lady who hopes — sometimes frus- Nations. About 1 million ration is one more." "They may come, as they
happened to be taking trated — that their families have landed in neighbor- Experts who have studied get older, to understand
care of him that afternoon can soon join them. The re- ing Colombia after making migrant families say the the rationale," Dreby said.
and was napping a few sult is a profound alteration long treks by bus and foot same factors typically drive "But it doesn't change the
feet away. of families, with sometimes . In one survey by Colom- the decision to flee with- feelings of resentment they
Like thousands of other devastating consequenc- bian officials, 73 percent of out children, regardless of grapple with."
Venezuelan migrants what es. the more than 250,000 mi- country of origin: Uncer- Like other migrants, Ven-
the U.N. calls the largest Co-workers at the health grant families questioned tainty about the journey, ezuelan families are likely
exodus of people in South foods restaurant in Bogo- said they had left relatives worries about job prospects to try to reunite as quickly
America's modern history, ta where Espinoza cleans behind in Venezuela. in a new country and a be- as possible, a trend Colom-
Espinoza had made an ag- tables tried to console her, Another smaller survey by lief that the separation will bian authorities believe is
onizing choice six months saying the child was simply the International Rescue only be temporary. A rise in already happening, which
ago: To leave without her confused and likely asso- Committee, a humanitari- female migration in recent will result in even higher
three children. She did not ciated the word "mother" an aid group, found 52 per- decades has also led to numbers of Venezuelans
have the money to bring with any one of the female cent of 312 Venezuelans re- larger numbers of children living abroad. Colombian
them and had no idea neighbors or relatives in cently arrived in Colombia separated from their moth- Foreign Minister Carlos
what trials she might face Venezuela now helping reported being separated ers. Holmes Trujillo recently es-
in Colombia. So she left take care of him. from at least one child they Perhaps nowhere has the is- timated that there could
them with her brother in the "He would consider that usually live with. sue been more visible than be as many as 4 million
hopes of earning enough person his mother and not "The rate of family sepa- at the U.S.-Mexico bor- Venezuelans in Colombia
to feed them and, with me," she said, weeping at ration and separation of der, where families make by 2021. In their survey of
time, reunite. the memory. parents from children is wrenching decisions over about 250,000 Venezuelan
It's a pattern that echoes An estimated 2.3 million just staggering," said Mari- whether to bring children migrant families, Colom-
other migrations through- Venezuelans have fled anne Menjivar, the IRC's on long treks — often cov- bian officials found an av-
out the world, from Central their nation's hyperinflation, Venezuela and Colombia ering hundreds of miles and erage of just 1.7 people
America, the Caribbean food and medical shortag- director. "These are people finally across scorching, iso- per "family," indicating that
and Asia: Heads of house- es over the last three years, who have multiple layers of lated deserts. Even fami- most had relatives scat-
holds are fleeing first, with according to the United trauma and the child sepa- lies who cross into the U.S. tered across borders. q