Capurgana and the Migrant Crisis

Actually, I think the vast majority of the migrants are holed up in Turbo. Seeing how Turbo is already a dump, I don't foresee it affecting the tourism industry very much. Also, if there are a few hundred refugees in Capurgana as well, then you can always head on over the mountain to Sapzurro. From what I understand, the majority of these migrants are Cuban, who are making a mad dash for the US in order to take advantage of the Wet Foot Dry Foot policy before it goes away for good.

On a side note, the circuitous routes many of these migrants take is quite interesting. I was in the Amazon a few years ago (Leticia) and while I was in an internet cafe, I noticed many men of African descent lining up to use the phones. Now, black people are fairly common in Colombia, but large groups of them speaking French aren't. Intrigued, I asked the hostel owner what the deal was. He told me that those guys were Haitian immigrants trying to make their way to the US. Apparently, they somehow wound up in the Amazon region and got stuck there.

According to news stories the migrants have been arriving in both Capurganá and Sapzurro for some time and it is not a question of there being a few hundred in the village. The Capurganá priest who spoke to SEMANA magazine said there are three hundred arriving daily.

If 300 hundred are arriving daily, then they aren't hanging around Capurgana or Sapzurro for very long. Not sure if you've ever been to Sapzurro, but there's no way more than a few dozen people could stay in that place for a protracted period of time. Most of the Cubans and others stuck in that area, are holed up in a warehouse in Turbo. Where would several hundred immigrants stay in Capurgana? This wasn't a problem until Panama closed its border with Colombia. It seems the bigger issue is with the people that are stuck in the region and not with those just passing through.

Looks like the deportation process has already begun:

http://colombiareports.com/colombia-begins-deportations-cuban-migrants/

I've been to Capurganá three times and Sapzurro once. If there are as many as the priest said arriving I imagine they are camped in the park and/or in a relatively open area along the landing strip. I saw the army camped there once. I too womder how Capurganá could hold so many. Some are evidently trying to bushwhack their way across the border.

When I went to get my new cedula in Medellin a few weeks ago, the line of Africans outside the deportation office was massive, stretching right around the building with people (families) everywhere.

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