“Any foreigner who enters Colombia will have a background check and criminals will be prevented from entering”, Claudia López

Claudia López, mayor of Bogotá, applauded the decision of Migration Colombia to require legal records from migrants entering the country. The president stated that “there is no right for any criminal to cross the borders of Colombia whenever he wants with whatever he wants and come to attack or attack Colombians with impunity,” she also pointed out that there will be a rapid identification process, so that: “criminal who commits a crime in the city can be perfectly and quickly judicialized”.

In fact, he assured that many lives could have been saved not only in Bogotá but throughout the country: “How many robberies could we have avoided and how many prosecutions could we have done if it had been done more than a year ago, but hey, it was finally done”, he also celebrated the measure because with all certainty, Claudia López said, he said will be able to reduce robbery day by day, as it will allow more effective prosecutions to take place.

“Let there be no impunity for anyone, let alone the people we welcome in our territory, in good faith, and who are criminals who end up attacking our community”, concludes the capital's office who during her speech congratulated the work being carried out in the town of Barrios Unidos, where programs are being carried out in the area of security and through which, no homicides have been reported so far in 2022, which means a 20% reduction in this crime compared to previous years.

These statements were answered by the director of Migration Colombia Juan Francisco Espinosa, who said that efforts to identify the migrant population come from a long time ago. For example: “Since May last year, with the Temporary Protection Statute, what we did was create an identification mechanism with biometric support. That is, we have been in this procedure for a long time, we have been working with the Police, with the Military Forces and with the Prosecutor's Office for a long time in identification processes.”

At the event, Claudia López took the opportunity to make it official that on Friday, March 18 at 4 in the afternoon, she will hold a meeting with the Attorney General, Francisco Barbosa, who brings together the district administration: “He is super committed (...) to the protection of children so that they are not harassed by the jíbaros around the schools, nor will anyone touch them improperly, nor is there any aggression against the integrity of young people, either inside or outside the school”.

The objective of the meeting will be to propose to use a strategy similar to that developed in the district to reduce violence against women with: specialized prosecutors, pairs of psychologists and lawyers in the Immediate Reaction Units (URIs) and comprehensive care for victims in the Houses of Justice.

López proposed this model, ensuring that it is working well, judicializing homicides and in particular violence against women; but specifically leading it to prosecute criminals who violate children and young people in both public and private schools. This model will be complemented by the network of care, set up in educational institutions, in order to prevent, punish and imprison those who commit crimes against minors. This meeting had been requested a few days ago, motivated by recent reports of harassment, rape, bullying and other crimes in different educational institutions in the city, both in the public and private sectors.

Finally, he pointed out that these efforts, even if they are made to protect children in schools, they must find a safe and protective place in their homes, other than places of risk.

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