2024-04-13 04:20:08
In a ruling, the Constitutional Court of Colombia has established that migrants from Venezuela are no longer required to renounce their Temporary Protection Permit (PPT) to begin their request for refuge in the country.
This ruling came after the analysis of ruling T-056 of 2024, in which the acts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Special Administrative Unit for Migration of Colombia were evaluated with respect to a specific case of a Venezuelan migrant.
The sentence, advised by the Legal Clinic on Cross-border Human Mobility of the Legal Clinic of the Faculty of Jurisprudence of the Universidad del Rosario, highlighted the violation of the fundamental rights of the migrant and his permanent companion.
Nicolás Barón González, coordinator of the aforementioned area, explained that the court’s decision constituted a serious violation of the rights of the migrant and his family as they were pressured to renounce the PPT as a requirement to request refuge.
The case, represented by Jesús Arellano and advised by the Legal Clinic of the Universidad del Rosario, was initially dismissed in lower instances but came to the attention of the Constitutional Court in its review venue.
The ruling addressed three crucial aspects: the violation of due administrative process, family unity and access to fundamental rights. Firstly, the pressure exerted on the Venezuelan migrant to renounce his PPT was questioned, which constituted an affront to his integrity and rights.
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Secondly, the importance of the PPT as a facilitator for the exercise of fundamental rights, such as health, work and education, was highlighted. Forcing migrants to give up refuge to obtain the PPT limited their access to these rights. Finally, the Court established that Venezuelan migrants are in a situation of economic vulnerability and, therefore, must receive special protection.
Barón emphasized that this ruling not only ratifies what was previously established, but also establishes constitutional limits on the president’s power to establish requirements for obtaining the PPT.
This decision marks a milestone in the protection of the rights of Venezuelan migrants and represents a significant achievement for the Cross-border Human Mobility Legal Clinic of the Universidad del Rosario.
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