Migration Colombia intensifies efforts to protect children against sexual crimes

Colombia Migrationin its role as the entity in charge of ensuring immigration control and national security, reiterates its firm commitment to the prevention and eradication of sexual crimes against children and adolescents in Colombian territory.

The immigration authority has been working in coordination with the United States Department of Justice and Homeland Securityas well as with various international agencies, to intensify efforts in identifying and preventing the entry of potential sexual offenders into the country that represent a threat to vulnerable populations.

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Strong measures to protect the little ones

In compliance with this mission, Migración Colombia has implemented a series of forceful measures, among which the following stand out:

• Inadmissibility of foreigners involved in sexual crimes: It reserves the right to deny entry to the country to foreign citizens who have been involved in sexual crimes, especially those affecting minors.
• Aggressor detection mechanisms: An international cooperation network has been established that includes interconnection with information exchange platforms in other countries and access to public databases at the national and international level.
• Rigorous interviews: During the entry process to Colombia, exhaustive interviews are carried out to detect possible inconsistencies in the information provided by travelers, allowing those who may represent a threat to society to be identified.

Figures that reflect the commitment

As a result of these actions, during 2023, Migración Colombia denied admission to a total of 5,559 foreigners at different entry points into the country, mainly at the airports of Bogotá, Medellín and Cartagena. Among these cases, 41 foreigners were inadmissible due to charges of sexual crimes.

Joint work for a safer Colombia

Migration Colombia reaffirms its commitment to the protection of the rights of children and adolescents, and calls on all Colombian society to join in the fight against sexual crimes that affect the most vulnerable. The institution reiterates the importance of timely reporting any suspicion of child abuse or exploitation, and remembers that ICBF line 141 is available to provide care and guidance in these cases.

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Interinstitutional actions

Within the framework of this commitment, on April 12, Migración Colombia actively participated in the second ordinary session of the Inter-institutional Committee for the “Fight against Trafficking” in the city of Medellín, in order to work in an articulated manner with other entities. to strengthen actions, monitoring, investigations and support to counteract the crime of child trafficking and exploitation.

Migration Colombia will continue to work tirelessly to guarantee a safe and protective environment for the entire population, especially for children and adolescents, who are the most vulnerable to this type of crime.