Al Ittihad claims top spot in Saudi Pro League after victory over Al Fateh    Saudi delegation participates in the 7th U20 Deans Summit in Brazil    Al-Jubeir discusses with EU officials enhancing bilateral cooperation    GASTAT: Non-oil exports up 22.8% in September 2024    Saudi Arabia to host 28th Annual World Investment Conference in Riyadh    Saudi Arabia allows licensed flour milling companies to export flour    Saudi Arabia joins international partnership initiative to boost hydrogen economy    Israeli drones kill two paramedics, injure four in southern Lebanon    Trump's new attorney general nominee sparks concerns over DOJ independence    Australia drops proposed laws to regulate social media misinformation    Six Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes on central Gaza    Riyadh Emir inaugurates International Conference on Conjoined Twins in Riyadh    Al Khaleej stuns Al Hilal with 3-2 victory, ending 57-match unbeaten run    SFDA move to impose travel ban on workers of food outlets in the event of food poisoning    Al Okhdood halts Al Shabab's winning streak with a 1-1 draw in Saudi Pro League    Saudi musical marvels takes center stage in Tokyo's iconic opera hall    Al Khaleej qualifies for Asian Men's Club League Handball Championship final    Katy Perry v Katie Perry: Singer wins right to use name in Australia    Sitting too much linked to heart disease –– even if you work out    Denmark's Victoria Kjær Theilvig wins Miss Universe 2024    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Distraught Colombians flee Venezuela as border dispute intensifies
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 27 - 08 - 2015

ERNESTO GUEVARA, Venezuela — Hundreds of Colombians waded across a border river with fridges, chickens and mattresses on their backs as goats and children followed under the scorching tropical sun, victims of an escalating dispute with Venezuela's government.
Saying they were forced from their rickety wooden or corrugated metal homes and scared of what might happen next if they stayed inside Venezuela, they fled across the River Tachira and back into their homeland on Tuesday.
“I feel impotent. I want to cry. I lost everything overnight,” Darwin Arenas, a 26-year-old Colombian, said as he and his Venezuelan wife dragged their possessions across the river in a wheelbarrow.
Most of the refugees have lived for years in Ernesto Guevara, an extremely poor Venezuelan border village, or other nearby settlements, but they were forced to leave after Venezuelan authorities marked their homes with a “D” for “demolition” over the weekend.
Venezuela says it is cracking down on paramilitary and smuggling gangs active along the border but the families fleeing said they had nothing to do with crime.
Some like Arenas, a supermarket worker with two children, were formally deported by Venezuela. Others said that National Guard officers ordered them to get out, and others decided to leave before the border crisis gets worse.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has blamed many of recession-hit Venezuela's problems on Colombians, sparking a spat between the two South American neighbors who share a long and porous border plagued by drug trafficking, paramilitaries, left-wing guerrillas and smugglers.
Maduro last week closed an official border crossing near here and suspended some constitutional guarantees along parts of the border, allowing authorities the right to search homes and businesses without a warrant, after Venezuelan soldiers were injured in a firefight with smugglers.
Across the river on Colombian soil, authorities are helping the distraught families find refuge. Many have no idea where they are going and on Tuesday they milled around aimlessly alongside their possessions on a muddy river bank.
Colombia's disaster relief agency said it was sending 500 emergency aid kits as well as tents and diapers to the town of Cucuta on the Colombian side of the border.
Maduro says he is only interested in forcing out smugglers and paramilitaries and insists that human rights will be upheld. The Colombian government, however, says more than 1,000 people have been unfairly deported.
“Flattening houses, using force against people, separating families, not allowing them to take their few possessions and marking the houses for demolition is totally unacceptable and is a reminder of bitter episodes of humanity that can not be repeated,” President Juan Manuel Santos said on Tuesday.
Dozens of residents in Ernesto Guevara, named for the Argentine revolutionary better known as “Che” Guevara, said National Guard troops came over the weekend and went through every single home, looking for Colombians.
They labeled many houses with a giant “D” for “demolition,” the residents said, adding that the National Guard proceeded to damage homes and steal some possessions.
Videos posted online purported to show demolition equipment being used to flatten houses elsewhere along the border.
“The National Guard came and said we had 72 hours to get out and they would demolish our house,” said Colombian Luz Nelsi, a 36-year-old single mother whose wooden house is painted with a giant “D.”
“Do we look like paramilitaries?” said Nelsi as she and her three young daughters stood at the door. Venezuela says it is acting only to protect Venezuela and that it has respected the Colombians' rights.
“We haven't violated a single human right. We haven't flattened a single house” said Jose Vielma, the governor of Tachira state, during a special National Assembly session in the western part of Venezuela on Tuesday.
Venezuelan authorities did not respond to requests for comment on this article. Many Venezuelans have coexisted with the country's large Colombian community for decades and are shocked by the border crisis. Housewife Maria Velazco, 47, helped Colombian friends living in Ernesto Guevara pack up their things.
“This is like when the Jews' houses were marked with stars in Germany,” she said outside the friends' house as those around her frantically packed up what they could. — Reuters


Clic here to read the story from its source.