Venezuelan Meltdown Drives Refugees to U.N. Tents in the Desert

Maicao, Colombia, looks like a scene from a war-ravaged nation, but the United Nations tents that recently sprang up near the country’s border aren’t for conflict victims—they’re for half-starved migrants escaping Venezuela’s economic implosion.

The city in Colombia’s northern desert has seen an almost 30 percent increase in population as Venezuelans flee their country at the rate of 200 every hour. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees interviewed 3,500 Venezuelans in the town and found that half have been living on the streets, many of them spending months out in the elements. After pleas from local and national authorities, the UNHCR set up a reception center aimed at providing the migrants with shelter, food and water, as well as medical care and legal advice. The shelter opened in March, with a capacity to house as many as 350 people in 60 tents.