By Kristen Mitchell
As the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela worsens, it’s more important than ever that we understand how the economic, political and social turmoil impacts the most vulnerable members of society. As a graduate student in the Elliott School of International Affairs, I am researching how international actors and state governments can foster migration out of Venezuela while minimizing exploitation and human trafficking.
As part of our year-long capstone project, my research partners and I traveled to Bogotá, Colombia, over spring break to speak directly with individuals and organizations that have contact with Venezuelan migrants. Migrants leaving Venezuela are vulnerable to traffickers who make false promises about the kind of life they will live outside the country and take advantage of their need for economic stability. More than a million migrants have left Venezuela for Colombia in recent years.
Since we first proposed this research in the fall, the situation in Venezuela has become increasingly dire. We knew that we would not be able to safely travel to the shared border between Colombia and Venezuela, so we decided to propose a trip to Bogotá because of its proximity to the conflict and its status as a regional hub for international actors and NGOs. We were thrilled to receive approval and funding from the Elliott School for the trip and spent weeks leading up to the trip setting up interviews with local experts.
These efforts helped us secure meetings with officials from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. These meetings gave us insight into various aspects of this humanitarian crisis and how the political and economic challenges have created an environment where trafficking can thrive.
We also had the opportunity to meet with the founder of a Colombia-based group that uses social media to promote civic culture among young people in the city of Cucuta, neighboring the border. Speaking with him and hearing more about how large groups of individuals cross the border hoping to start a new life gave us interesting insight on the challenges associated with asylum seeking and the pursuit of legal work as an undocumented immigrant.
These interviews will play an important role as we continue to develop our paper and subsequent policy recommendations. Over the next few weeks, we will continue to speak to experts in this field and analyze our data for patterns and common experiences.
The opportunity to go to Bogotá was also an exciting cultural experience. We took advantage of the opportunity to explore the city between our interviews. We walked around Parque 93, visited the famous “Museo del Oro” and took a funicular ride up Monserrate, a mountain in the heart of Bogotá with beautiful views of the city. These outings gave us a chance to regroup between transcribing our interviews and drafting our paper on such an emotionally-difficult subject.
Our trip to Bogotá was a great experience that has aided our research in ways we cannot yet quantify. I know these conversations will lead to a more in-depth, thoughtful final product that will generate new knowledge about the ongoing problem of human trafficking out of Venezuela. It’s critical that this issue receives more scholarship and awareness as the situation continues to change.
We are thankful to the Elliott School and the capstone office for providing us with the funding and support that enabled this experience. As we continue our work in the weeks to come, we are more motivated than ever to create a project of which we will be proud.
Kristen Mitchell is a writer for GW Today who reports on student and faculty research.
