Over 40 Foreigners Expelled From Colombia For Violating Coronavirus Quarantine Measures, Spot Inspections Continue
According to the Director General of Colombia’s border control authority Migration Colombia, Juan Francisco Espinosa, the Colombian immigration authority has been carrying out random verifications of travelers who arrived in the country since last March 11 and have been required as a condition of admission, a 14 day in-place quarantine.
As a result of procedures carried out in Bogotá, Medellín, Cali, Cartagena, Neiva, Tunja and Zipaquirá, more than 40 foreign nationals and one Colombian citizen were found in violation of the isolation order issued by the Colombian government.
According to Migration Colombia, citizens of the UK, Israel, Australia, Yemen, Pakistan, Haiti, India, US, Germany & Holland have been expelled.
Foreigners, including English, Israeli, Australian, Yemeni, Pakistani, Haitian, Indian, American, German and Dutch citizens, have been expelled by Migration Colombia, for putting at risk national security, public order and public health by their actions.
In one egregious, now infamous case a Colombian woman was located in the town of Zipaquirá, by the Attorney General of Colombia, after Migration Colombia verified that despite having been notified of the mandatory isolation measure, she decided to, in the company of her husband, a US citizen, leave her quarantine to go to a barbecue on Monday night.
According to Espinosa, the collaboration of the citizenry and the hotel sector has been essential for compliance with the isolation measure, since in the first three days that the isolation orders went into effect, the Colombian immigration authority has received more than 700 alerts, which is why it determined that random verification procedures will continue throughout the nation, expelling foreign citizens who fail to comply with this measure and forwarding copies of cases to the Attorney General’s Office of the Nation, in the case of Colombian citizens.
Photo courtesy Migración Colombia