OIM - Local Migration Governance Indicators Medellin 2022

Medellin (Colombia) | PROFILE 2022

M I G R AT I O N

G OV E R N A N C E

I N D I C ATO R S LOCAL IOM is committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society. As an intergovernmental organization, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to: assist in meeting the operational challenges of migration; advance understanding of migration issues; encourage social and economic development through migration; and uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout the report do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of IOM concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries. _______________ While efforts have been taken to verify the accuracy of this information, neither Economist Impact nor its affiliates can accept any responsibility or liability for reliance by any person on this information.

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M I G R AT I O N

G OV E R N A N C E

I N D I C ATO R S

LOCAL

CONTENTS OBJECTIVES // 6

INTRODUCTION // 7

CONTEXT // 10

KEY FINDINGS // 16

COVID-19 ANALYSIS // 34

KEY SOURCES // 36

ANNEXES // 42

O B J E C T I V E S OBJECTIVES Help local authorities take stock of the migration initiatives 1 they have in place. Foster dialogue on migration between national governments 2 and local authorities. Enable local authorities to learn from one another by sharing 3 common challenges and identifying potential solutions. “Rapid urbanization continues to transform the demographic landscape of many countries around the world. Cities are already home to the majority of international migrants, driven by opportunity as well as necessity, and local authorities are becoming leaders in finding creative solutions for rapid social change, supporting communities through innovation.”1 1 António Vitorino, IOM Director General, Report to the 109th Session of the IOM Council (November 2018).

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INTRODUCTION I N T R O D U C T I O N

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INTRODUCTION

The Migration Governance Indicators2 The need to maximize the opportunities and face the challenges that mobility brings has been recognized with the inclusion of migration in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and with the adoption of the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration.3 The incorporation of target 10.7 into the 2030 Agenda created the need to define “planned and well-managed migration policies”. This is why, in 2015, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) developed the Migration Governance Framework (MiGOF). This Framework offers a concise view of an ideal approach that allows a State to determine what it might need to govern migration well and in a way that suits its circumstances. That same year, IOM in collaboration with Economist Impact developed the Migration Governance Indicators (MGIs), a set of almost

100 indicators that help States assess the comprehensiveness of their migration governance structures. The indicators constitute a starting point to engage governments in a consultative process that allows them to identify areas that are well-developed and others that would benefit from further development, and most importantly, priorities that are in line with the specific challenges and opportunities that a given country is facing. The MGIs are characterized by three main fundamental attributes:

1. The MGI process is a voluntary exercise: The MGIs are conducted in countries that have requested to be part of the process.

2. The MGIs are sensitive to national specificities: The MGIs recognize the different challenges and opportunities of each context, and therefore, do not propose a one-size-fits-all solution, but rather aim to spark a discussion on what well-governed migration can mean.

3. The MGIs constitute a process: The MGI process is not a static tool to collect data on countries’ migration frameworks. It is rather the first step of a dynamic exercise that can enable governments to identify areas of their migration policy in need of further development, or that could benefit from capacity-building.

Migration Governance Indicators: From national to local The role of cities and municipalities in migration governance4 has grown significantly in recent decades, given the rapid pace of urbanization and the importance of cities as destinations for all forms of migration and displacement. Researchers, policymakers and international development agencies have all highlighted the crucial role of cities and municipalities in both accommodating migrants and formulating sustainable responses to migration-related matters.

The role of local governments, not only in the management of migration at the local level, but also in realizing the urban dimensions of the 2030 Agenda, has been recognized in the New Urban Agenda at the Habitat III Conference in Quito (Ecuador), the Global Compact for Migration, and the Call to Local Action, to mention a few. 2 All terms used in the report are defined in the IOM Glossary on Migration (2019). 3 “The Global Compact is the first inter-governmentally negotiated agreement, prepared under the auspices of the United Nations, covering all dimensions of international

migration in a holistic and comprehensive manner. It is a non-binding document that respects States’ sovereign right to determine who enters and stays in their territory and demonstrates commitment to international cooperation on migration. It presents a significant opportunity to improve the governance of migration, to address the challenges associated with today’s migration, and to strengthen the contribution of migrants and migration to sustainable development.” 4 “Migration governance” refers to the system of institutions, legal frameworks, mechanisms and practices aimed at regulating migration and protecting migrants. It is used almost synonymously with the term “migration management”, although the latter is also sometimes used to refer to the narrow act of regulating cross-border movement at the State level.

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INTRODUCTION To support the discussion between levels of governments on migration governance, IOM has adapted the MGIs5 to the local level. The Local MGIs seek to offer a more comprehensive picture of a country’s migration governance landscape by juxtaposing a local dimension to MGI national assessments. The Local MGIs are based on a set of about 80 indicators helping local authorities take stock of local migration strategies or initiatives in place and identify good practices as well as areas with potential for further development. The aim of the exercise is to foster dialogue on migration between national governments and local authorities and enable local authorities to learn from one another by discussing common challenges and identifying potential solutions. While the Local MGIs retain the attributes of the National MGIs, they are also anchored in the notion that cities and local authorities have different capacities, competencies and added value when it comes to governing migration. Therefore, the methodology has been adapted to reflect the fact that the degree of fiscal and political autonomy of participating cities influences the kind of migration governance they can practically and legally engage in. Furthermore, new indicators of the level of autonomy and capacities have been added to give some context to the results of the assessment. Given the differences outlined between the MGIs at the national and local levels, the purpose of the Local

MGIs is to be a tool for government authorities to use in taking an introspective look at the measures they have in place to manage migration, as well as to share their experiences. Furthermore, the Local MGIs recognize that good practices can take different forms depending on the division of competencies between local and national authorities. Therefore, the Local MGI analysis should not be interpreted as an invitation to change the division of competencies, but rather be understood as a catalyst to open dialogues on what cities can do with regard to migration within the scope of their mandate. A comprehensive picture of migration governance can be captured only by looking at the different levels of government. To supplement the national MGI assessment carried out in 2018,6 three local MGI assessments were conducted simultaneously in 2018 in Colombia – in the municipalities of Villa del Rosario7 and San José de Cúcuta8 in the Department of Santander, and in the municipality of Barranquilla9 in the Atlantic Department. An assessment was carried out in Bucaramanga,10 the capital of the Department of Santander, in 2021, and in Medellin, Department of Antioquia, in 2022. The 2020 and 2021 assessments were conducted under the auspices of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for International Partnerships within the framework of Inclusive Cities, Communities of Solidarity, an inter-agency initiative run by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the United Nations Human Settlements Programme and IOM. This report is the outcome of the local MGI process conducted in Medellin. It summarizes key examples of well-developed migration governance structures as well as those with potential for further development. This exercise arises from the need of the municipality to think about migration management and generate public policies for migrants who are in Medellin. This and other information management processes supported by IOM at the local level allow for a more comprehensive view of governance, considered in terms of not only the population’s demands and needs, but also municipal capacities.

5 The Migration Governance Indicators were developed in 2015 by IOM in collaboration with Economist Impact. 6 See the 2018 Migration Governance Snapshot for the Republic of Colombia. 7 See the 2021 Local Migration Governance Indicators Profile for Villa del Rosario (North Santander). 8 See the 2021 Local Migration Governance Indicators Profile for San José de Cúcuta (North Santander). 9 See the 2021 Local Migration Governance Indicators Profile for Barranquilla (Atlantic). 10 See the 2022 Local Migration Governance Indicators Profile for Bucaramanga (Santander).

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C O N T E X T CONTEXT Migration trends Between 1973 and 2005, Colombia was a net deporter of migrants entering the country in search of job opportunities, for the purposes of family reunification, to improve their quality of life or to obtain access to higher education, among other reasons (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Colombia, 2013a). Moreover, in 2013 there were an estimated 4.7 million Colombians living abroad, chiefly in the United States of America (35%); Spain (23%); the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (20%); Ecuador (3%); Canada (2%); Panama, Mexico and Costa Rica (1% each); and the United Kingdom, Australia, Peru and the Plurinational State of Bolivia (less than 1%) (ibid.). Colombia has only recently become a country of destination. The past few years have seen an increase in the number of Venezuelan nationals migrating to the country with the intention to stay and of Colombians returning from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. According to a 2020 survey conducted by the Centre for Migration and Economic Stabilization (2021), among 1,061 Venezuelans in Barranquilla, Bogotá, Cali, Cúcuta and Medellin,11 63 per cent of those surveyed indicated that they preferred to remain in Colombia,

27 per cent said that they wished to return to their country, and 10 per cent expressed that they wished to travel to a third country. According to the 2018 National Population and Housing Census published by the National Administrative Department of Statistics (2018), 48,258,494 people resided in Colombia that year; 6,407,102 were residents of the Department of Antioquia, and 2,427,129 lived in Medellin. The population of Medellin represents 38 per cent of the department’s population and 5 per cent of the national population. In population terms, Medellin is the country’s second-largest city and the department’s largest city (Governor’s Office of Antioquia, 2018). Regarding migratory flows from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as of 31 August 2021 there were 1,842,390 Venezuelan migrants and refugees in Colombia (see Figure 1). Of these, 18.7 per cent (344,688) were reported to be regular migrants, 64.2 per cent (1,182,059) were in the process of obtaining temporary protection status, and 17.1 per cent (315,643) were irregular migrants.12 Of the total, 14.3 per cent (264,148) were in the Department of Antioquia, and 8.1 per cent (148,714) were in Medellin (Migración Colombia, 2021). In 2021, the Venezuelan migrant and refugee population represented 6.1 per cent (148,714) of the total population (2,427,129) of Medellin. In terms of internal displacement caused by the armed conflict in Colombia, the Victim Assistance and Comprehensive Reparation Unit (2022) reports that 8,231,887 people were internally displaced between January 1985 and February 2022. This includes 139,117 displacements in Medellin. 11 These five cities are home to 38 per cent of Venezuelan migrants in Colombia. 12 See Law No. 2136 of 2021 (Congress of the Republic of Colombia, 2021b).

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CONTEXT Figure 1. Migrants of Venzuelan nationality in Colombia 2,000,000 1,842,390 1,771,237 1,729,537 1,800,000 1,600,000 1,400,000 1,174,743 1,200,000 1,000,000 800,000 600,000 403,702 400,000 200,000 31,471 53,747 0 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

Source: Migración Colombia, Distribución de venezolanos en Colombia (February 2022).

Competencies of the local government of Medellin Colombia’s 1991 Constitution provides for a hybrid system between a unitary State and a State in which territorial entities have some autonomy. In administrative terms, Colombia is made up of the Nation, departments, municipalities and Indigenous territories. Under Article 319 of the Constitution, when two or more municipalities wish to do so, they may establish a metropolitan area without losing their independence or autonomy, Level of for the purpose of carrying out common social development projects.13 In decentralization addition, Law No. 1625 of 2013,14 also known as the Metropolitan Areas of local Law, updated the system governing such entities, thus repealing Organic Law authorities No. 128 of 1994. The departments and municipalities benefit from partial delegations of authority in the following sectors: education, health, residential public services, drinking water and basic sanitation, culture, tourism, housing, social security, transport, environment, sports and recreation, disaster prevention and management, public order and land-use planning. 13 The concept of metropolitan area first appeared in Colombia in 1968, in Legislative Act No. 1, which modified Article 198 of the 1886 Constitution.

14 Pursuant to Article 8 of this Law, the constitution of metropolitan areas is a voluntary exercise in which the municipalities concerned designate a core municipality. The municipalities can be from the same or different departments. They must initiate the process before the Special Commission for Monitoring the Decentralization and Territorial Planning Process of the Senate of the Republic and the House of Representatives, which ascertain the reasons for which they wish to establish a metropolitan area. This is followed by a process of consultation in which the populations of the municipalities concerned vote on the proposal to create the metropolitan area.

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CONTEXT

Under Legislative Act No. 1 of 2021, the city of Medellin is a Special District for Science, Technology and Innovation. The aim is to turn the Jesús Nazareno, Chagualo, San Pedro and Sevilla neighbourhoods in the north of the city into an innovation ecosystem.15 This does not, however, affect the continued discharge of the functions and powers invested in the Aburrá Valley Metropolitan Area. Agreement No. 89 of 2018, for its part, sets out the standing orders of the Council of Medellin, which comprises the General Secretariat, the Governing Board, the President and two Vice Presidents, and three standing committees. The first committee is in charge of the Development Plan, the Land Management Plan and the Valuation Statute;16 the second handles budget and fiscal matters; and the third is in charge of administrative tasks and social affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department in charge of formulating migration policy and issuing authorizations to enter the country in the form of permits and visas. It also promotes, inter alia, the development of border areas, implementing projects having a social and economic impact, and the reinforcement of integration processes with neighbouring countries. The migration authority of the Republic of Colombia is the Migración Colombia Special Administrative Unit, which is in charge of monitoring and controlling migration, including in border municipalities.

In February 2018, the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia established the Border Management Office, which seeks to coordinate, hand in hand with Migración Colombia and other national and local entities, all government The efforts for Venezuelan refugees and migrants. competencies of Medellin’s In August 2021, the Congress of the Republic of Colombia promulgated Law local authorities No. 2136 of 2021, which establishes, inter alia, definitions, principles and in relation to guidelines for the regulation and orientation of the Integrated Migrant Policy migration of the State of Colombia. The relevant entities of the national Government must now carry out the corresponding regulatory process and define in greater detail the roles of the different entities, local governments and other stakeholders. Multiple national entities have offices and specific plans aimed at managing migration within the limits of their remit. For example, the Ministry of Labour’s Labour Migration Policy Management Group is in charge of formulating, implementing and evaluating policies aimed at refugees and migrants. The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, for its part, drew up the Migrant Childhood Strategy in 2021, in an effort to better integrate the response to migrant children/adolescents and host communities by providing migration services that facilitate the journey, from emergency assistance to family stabilization. 15 For more information, see Distrito Especial de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación de Medellín. 16 More information on the first committee is available on the website of the Council of Medellin.

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CONTEXT Efforts have also been made to promote the joint work of national entities such as the Special Migration Group, in which Migración Colombia, the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare, the National Police, and the National Tax and Customs Directorate work together, with a view to exercising control over the proper use of migration instruments, recovering public spaces occupied by refugees/migrants and Colombian returnees living on the streets, controlling smuggling, and protecting

minors who have been abandoned or separated from their parents. With respect to migration responsibilities, subnational entities address issues such as health, education and home services (sectors in which they are empowered to act independently), both in operational and financial terms. They act under the permanent leadership of the national Government, represented by those in charge for each sector, at the national level, of public policy and guaranteeing access to services. Regularization, for its part, is the direct responsibility of the national Government, which up to now has not formally delegated authority for migration matters to departmental or municipal governments. In March 2021, the national Government issued Decree No. 216 establishing temporary protection status for Venezuelan migrants under the temporary protection system. Venezuelan migrants benefiting from that status can regularize their migration situation and engage in legal activities or occupations for 10 years in the country. This mechanism, which applies to migrants who were in Colombia on 31 January 2021, promotes regularization and facilitates protection of the rights of Venezuelan migrants. The Decree does not confer tacit or explicit powers on local authorities, which nevertheless work with Migración Colombia to promote awareness and disseminate information on the different phases of implementation of temporary protection status. An institutional diagnosis by the Mayor’s Office of Medellin (2021a) led to a clearer picture of the migratory phenomenon in the city and the specific needs of Venezuelan migrants, with a view to formulating policy guidelines and thus addressing the phenomenon in the district. In addition, the Medellin Future Development Plan 2020–2023 (2020) included the migrant population in the Territorial Partnerships for the Management of International Migration programme, highlighting that the Administration’s actions are aimed at ensuring that the migrants and vulnerable people living in Medellin have access to processes for social, economic and cultural integration, in coordination with public and inter-institutional cooperation entities, in areas such as health, education, housing and labour. The resources needed to give assistance to refugees and migrants are provided jointly by the municipal and departmental governments and the national

Government. Support has also been received from international cooperation Local financing agencies, the United Nations system and civil society organizations, among mechanisms and others. the restrictions on their use Municipalities must finance activities in areas in which they enjoy autonomy, such as health, education or home services, with their own resources, but they can, as required, request financial support from the national Government.

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CONTEXT With the arrival of new political cabinets in the departmental and municipal governments in January 2020, migration-related issues were included in municipal development plans to improve the management capacity of territorial entities in this matter. The Department of National Planning provided elected mayors, at the beginning of their administrations, with a territorial planning kit that includes guidelines for migration management. There is no indication that local administrations participated in the preparation of Law No. 2136 on migration policy or of the National Council for Economic and Social Policy’s Strategy for the Management of Migration from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (Document No. 3950), which was adopted in 2018. They nevertheless took part in the process indirectly, implementing first-responder assistance programmes and participating in the Unified Command Posts and/or in the Migration Management Boards. These units for coordination between the nation and the territories, launched in 2015, were established to coordinate the response to the emergency arising from the migratory phenomenon that began that year. The Migration Management Boards, which are headed by the Border Management Office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Directorate for Border Development and Integration, operate particularly in departments with large populations of Venezuelan migrants/refugees and Colombian returnees. In both cases, national, departmental and local authorities, and occasionally international cooperation agencies, participate as guests. The Boards, which bring together the three levels of government (national, departmental and municipal) and representatives of international cooperation at the local level, are supported by the Attorney General’s Office. Their purpose

Local is to coordinate and articulate the response on issues such as education, health, participation in childhood, housing, drinking water, basic sanitation, security and coexistence. the formulation The Migration Management Board in Medellin and Antioquia, in which the of migration Mayor’s Office of Medellin participates, also links public entities and international policy cooperation agencies that serve the migrant and refugee population in the territory. The Territorial Partnerships for the Management of International Migration programme being carried out as part of the Medellin Future Development Plan 2020–2023 aims to “contribute to the comprehensive management and social, economic and cultural integration of the migrant population, returnees and host population in order to contribute to the stabilization of migration in the city of Medellin”. The programme’s implementation is the responsibility of the Department of Social Inclusion, Family and Human Rights. Likewise, the Mayor’s Office of Medellin coordinates with Migración Colombia and with the Ministries of Education and Health and Social Protection to guarantee that services are extended to the migrant population in the territory. At the time of writing, the Mayor’s Office was drawing up a public policy on migration issues (one of the goals of the aforementioned Development Plan). IOM supports this initiative, signing an agreement of understanding and through two information management processes: the Displacement Tracking Matrix and the Migration Governance Indicators.

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INTRODUCTION K E Y F I N D I N G S LOCAL MIGRATION GOVERNANCE INDICATORS: MEDELLIN 2022 /// 1 6

KEY FINDINGS The Local MGIs are composed of approximately 80 indicators grouped under the six different dimensions of migration governance that draw upon the MiGOF categories:17 Indicators in this category look at the extent to which migrants have access to certain social services such as health, education and social security. They also examine measures to ensure integration

MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS and access to work.

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Indicators in this category assess the institutional frameworks of cities, municipalities or states for migration. This area also examines WHOLE-OF-GOVERNMENT the existence of migration strategies consistent with development APPROACH objectives, as well as institutional transparency and coherence in PAGE 22 migration management. Indicators in this category focus on cities’, municipalities’ or states’ efforts to cooperate on migration issues with the national government as well as other cities and relevant non-governmental PARTNERSHIPS actors, including civil society organizations and the private sector.

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Indicators in this category assess cities’, municipalities’ or states’ initiatives in terms of international student mobility, access to the WELL-BEING labour market and decent working conditions for migrant workers. OF MIGRANTS Aspects related to diaspora engagement and migrant remittances PAGE 27 are also included in this domain. Indicators in this category examine the type and level of readiness of cities, municipalities or states to deal with aspects of mobility MOBILITY DIMENSION crises. The questions focus on the processes in place for citizens and OF CRISES non-citizens in relation to disasters and climate change, especially PAGE 29 whether humanitarian assistance is available for migrants and citizens. Indicators in this category look at the cities’, municipalities’ or states’ approaches to migrant safety as well as return and reintegration SAFE, ORDERLY AND policies and the fight against trafficking in persons. REGULAR MIGRATION PAGE 32 17 IOM Council, Migration Governance Framework, 106th Session, C/106/40 (4 November 2015).

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KEY FINDINGS

ADHERE TO INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS AND FULFIL MIGRANTS’ RIGHTS 1.1. Migration governance: Examples of well-developed areas Under the terms of Colombia’s 1991 Constitution, health care is a fundamental right and, therefore, an

essential public service to be provided by the State. Basic health care must be guaranteed to all those living on the territory of Colombia, without discrimination based on origin, regardless of their migration status and without the need to present any document (although any document they do have must be presented). Thus, the local