Mass exodus from Venezuela: Thousands of people are fleeing hunger and crime in neighboring Colombia
The photos show a mass exodus of refugees across the Simon Bolivar Bridge to neighboring Colombia. They are fleeing the famine and violence that has engulfed Venezuela. Colombia has sent additional patrols to guard the border, after the country has received more than half a million migrants over the past six months. Venezuela has also tightened border controls to stem the flow of refugees.
Difficult economic conditions have led to rampant crime in some areas of the Venezuelan capital Caracas: bandits rob food trucks, as in the movie "Mad Max". According to Reuters, 162 cases of robbery were recorded in January, 42 of them attacks on trucks.
Venezuela currently has one of the highest murder rates in the world. Drivers are not allowed to carry weapons, so they form convoys for protection. Drivers warn each other about the dangers on the roads and try to move faster.
Many Venezuelans have left their homes in search of food. The Government does not like the mass migration of the population, and it is making every effort to strengthen the borders.
During a visit to a border town at the epicenter of the growing migrant crisis in Colombia, President Juan Manuel Santos announced new measures taken to curb the flow of Venezuelan refugees.
The flow of migrants to Colombia has increased dramatically after Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro took measures to consolidate power, and the country's economy plummeted. There are currently 600,000 Venezuelans in Colombia — twice as many as six months ago. But some experts believe that this number is much higher.
The wave of migration covered Colombia at a difficult time for it, when the country began to recover after the end of more than 50 years of armed conflict. Many Venezuelans arrive illegally and need medical care.
More than two thousand soldiers will be sent to patrol dirt roads on the border with Venezuela. The new unit controlling migrants will patrol public places where refugees gather and monitor issues such as prostitution that have emerged in the wake of migration.