An anomalous situation has been experienced in recent days at the El Dorado airport. First, a girl, a Guinean national, was found over the weekend, alone, in the hallways of the international area of the terminal. This Monday afternoon the scene was repeated: the authorities identified a 13-year-old boy, from the same African country, who had been unaccompanied by an adult for more than ten days. The minors did not know each other and traveled on different flights, days apart.
Migración Colombia, the agency in charge of immigration matters, handed over the minors to the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), the entity that looks after children in the country. The authorities have explained that the boy had arrived at the airport on December 7, along with two adults who continued on their way without him. When conducting the interview to verify his situation, he indicated that he “had a connecting ticket to continue to El Salvador,” according to a statement from Immigration. The text clarifies that “this minor has no connection with a similar case that occurred a few days ago with a girl of the same nationality and that both situations are cases that had not been registered until now.”
The date of the girl's arrival has not been specified, but apparently she would also have spent several days wandering around the airport with the most passenger traffic in South America, and which serves as a connection node with Central and North America. “She arrived from Istanbul, Turkey, and while she was in the international area along with some relatives, she was abandoned there two days after her arrival,” specified Fernando García, general director of Migration Colombia, through a video published on the social networks of the organism.
The director of the ICBF, Astrid Cáceres, said in an interview with the radio station Blu Radio that “it seems that the African migration route is going through El Salvador, and from El Salvador it leaves for the United States.” He added that the entity is in the process of reviewing the belongings and contacts of the minors, looking for clues that lead to the whereabouts of their families. A specialized translator helps in communication. “We lack more details, but as the hours go by we could tell you more.”
The two children are fine, in stable health conditions, Cáceres maintains. Migration Colombia had reported that the minor had some initial symptoms of dehydration, but noted that they had already been treated. For now, she “is located in a temporary emergency center while we finish defining the conditions of arrival (…) she will be placed in a foster home or in a protection center while the international restitution process begins” .
García, for his part, indicated that they are in communication with the nearest Guinean embassy, in Brazil. Thanks to this, as reported by the ICBF director on Tuesday afternoon, they managed to locate the two families. “A process begins that takes time to accompany them in restitution with the family route. We appreciate the concern and we will launch a campaign for safe migration,” she wrote on her social networks. Hours before, she had pointed out that “the discovery of children alone in migration is still a constant in Colombia. This (occurred) in terms of the airport, but we have found some cases throughout the migratory route of the Darién area.”
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The Foreign Ministry also reacted and announced, on Wednesday night, that a new protocol will be created to protect the rights of migrant minors in transit through Colombia. Although the statement does not yet set out specific measures, apart from conducting interviews, it is noted that these “will be designed jointly in working groups that will begin tomorrow (December 20) among all the co-responsible authorities.”
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