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STORY: IOM / VENEZUELAN MIGRANTS
TRT: 03:47
SOURCE: IOM
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: SPANISH / NATS
DATELINE: RECENT, TULCAN, RUMICHACA, ECUADOR
RECENT - RUMICHACA, ECUADOR
1. Travel shot, IOM humanitarian trailer, Ecuadorian-Colombian border
2. Various shots, Venezuelans walking, highway, IOM staff providing humanitarian assistance, Venezuelans flagging down lorries
3. Aerial shot, Rumichaca International Bridge, Ecuadorian-Colombian border
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lady Villota, IOM legal assistant:
“We are at the Rumichaca International Bridge. The main entry to Ecuador, however this border is quite permeable, and we estimate that through irregular passages, we receive around 1,500 to 1,700 people of Venezuelan nationality who wish to enter Ecuador looking for better living conditions.”
5. Aerial shot, Ecuadorian-Colombian border
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Lady Villota, IOM legal assistant:
“IOM provides assistance during their journey so that we can reach the people and not vice versa. That is why we carry out constant monitoring with two goals. The first is also to check migration flows, both inbound and return, but the main one is to be able to aid people on the road.”
7. Various shots, IOM staff assessing needs of Venezuelan migrants
RECENT - TULCAN, ECUADOR
8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Christopher Zuleta, Venezuelan migrant: “I started walking in Maracaibo, then I crossed the border at Maicao and from there, I kept going.”
9. Aerial shot, Tulcan city
10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Christopher Zuleta, Venezuelan migrant:
“My mom was afraid, and my family didn't want it, because I was the youngest, but I had to find a future for my daughter. That's why they let me go, my mom said to me. I accept that you leave.”
11. Aerial shot, Tulcan city
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Christopher Zuleta, Venezuelan migrant:
“We were thirsty, hungry, and walking.”
13. Aerial shot, Tulcan city
14. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Christopher Zuleta, Venezuelan migrant:
“Since we got up, we’ve already walked 10 kilometers.”
15. Aerial shot, Tulcan city
16. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Christopher Zuleta, Venezuelan migrant:
“The best thing I could have done was to save some money to have something to eat on the way, but no, in my situation is not possible.”
RECENT - RUMICHACA, ECUADOR
17. Med shot, Chou with children, temporary accommodation center
13. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yuletzi Chou, Venezuelan migrant:
“I left Venezuela; it wasn't easy; I came walking, asking for a ride.”
14. Close up, Venezuelan, temporary accommodation center
15. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yuletzi Chou, Venezuelan migrant:
“I thought of risking my children crossing through the Darien jungle because all Venezuelans went through it, but my sisters told me not to because it was difficult; one of them was even drowning, and they were telling me. Don't come, don't do it for yourself, think of the children.”
16. Med shot, Chou whit child, temporary accommodation center
17. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Yuletzi Chou, Venezuelan migrant:
“I will tell my children that I went through an experience so that one day they can understand the struggle to give them a good life.”
18. Wide shot, Chou whit child, temporary accommodation center
According to the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the outflow of refugees and migrants from Venezuela is one of the largest displacement crises in the world.
In recent years, nearly 7.2 million Venezuelans have left their country in search of safety and stability.
The vast majority, over 6 million, live in countries across Latin America and the Caribbean.
Approximately half a million Venezuelans are in Ecuador.
IOM teams drive humanitarian trailers daily along the routes from Tulcan to the Colombian border, providing migrants in transit with food packages, water, hygiene kits, cold weather gear, and information on the road ahead.
The border is quite permeable; it is estimated that about 1,500 Venezuelans enter Ecuador monthly through irregular crossing points in search of better living conditions.
“This border is quite permeable, and we estimate that through irregular passages, we receive around 1,500 to 1,700 people of Venezuelan nationality who wish to enter Ecuador looking for better living conditions,” said Lady Villota, IOM legal assistant by the Rumichaca International Bridge, the main border crossing between Colombia and Ecuador in the Andes Mountains.
She continued, “IOM provides assistance during their journey so that we can reach the people and not vice versa. That is why we carry out constant monitoring with two goals. The first is also to check migration flows, both inbound and return, but the main one is to be able to aid people on the road.”
Although not as intense as in other periods, Venezuelan mixed migration flows continue into neighboring countries.
According to the local authorities, more than a quarter of a million people transited through Ecuador in 2022.
From there, they move throughout South America, heading North bypassing formal border crossings.
Migrants travel thousands of kilometers by foot, on the side of highways, through hazardous terrain and harsh weather conditions, putting themselves at risk of all kinds of danger and threats, including criminal groups and smugglers.
These risks are especially serious for young women and families carrying small children.
Many travel the road in flip-flops, T-shirts, and shorts. They walk and hitchhike for months along the mountain roads that connect cities like Bogota, Quito, and Lima with Santiago de Chile and Buenos Aires.
At more than 3,000 meters above sea level, the route between the Colombian border and Tulcan, in Ecuador, is covered by freezing mist and has extremely low temperatures.
At the end of a long and dangerous journey, there’s a glimpse of hope.
The Hotel Quito, in the Ecuadorian border city of Tulcan, is a temporary shelter supported by IOM.
As night falls, the shelter gradually fills with young couples, families with children, and single individuals.
They receive shelter for the night, medical and psychological assistance, and three hot meals daily.
Having regained their strength after a night in the shelter, migrants set off on foot, heading towards different locations in South America with their backpacks full of dreams.
Ahead, they face formidable geographic obstacles and other struggles on their way to a better life, a journey fueled by determination and courage.
