A/HRC/59/49/Add.1 IV. Response of Colombia to mixed movements of migrants and refugees in the country 33. As at 31 January 2025, a total of 1,348,225 irregular migrants from 162 nationalities have transited through Colombia, including 400,612 in 2024 alone. Migration in the region is predominantly driven by individuals from the Americas (87.5 per cent), mainly from the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Ecuador and Haiti, followed by migrants from Asia (9.2 per cent), primarily from China, and 3.2 per cent from countries in Africa. Nearly half (42 per cent) of these migrants entered Colombia through its border with Ecuador, while the other 58 per cent entered through the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Brazil and Peru. As the data show, South America is a key point of origin and transit migration towards the north. 34. In the early months of 2025, the number of irregular migrants in transit has declined significantly compared to the same period in 2024, with Venezuelan migration dropping by 48 per cent, Ecuadorian migration by 92 per cent and Chinese and Haitian migration by 99 per cent. Migration through the Darién region decreased in over 90 per cent compared to 2024 and 2023. It is noted that less than half of Venezuelan refugees and migrants transiting irregularly through Colombia ultimately reach the southern border of the United States of America. A. Regularization of the legal status of Venezuelans 35. As at 12 February 2025, over 2.8 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants had crossed the 2,219 kilometre-long border between the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and Colombia. Since 2017, in response to the arrival of a massive number of Venezuelan refugees and migrants, Colombian authorities implemented the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants (2021) to regularize the legal status of this population. Of the almost 3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants currently residing in Colombia, 2.5 million have regularized their situation through the temporary statute. Under the temporary statute, Venezuelans could apply for a temporary protection permit allowing them to stay in the country for up to 10 years and granting full access to public services, healthcare and education systems, including equal access to schools for migrant children, and the labour market. 36. However, on 24 November 2023, the registration process for the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants was terminated. Concerns have been raised about the irregular status of Venezuelans who were not have access to a temporary permit, whose numbers are growing in view of the continued and foreseeable arrivals of Venezuelan refugees and migrants in Colombia. In addition, on 9 May 2024, the Constitutional Court, by its ruling T-166, ordered Colombia Migration to issue a resolution to enable any individual who failed, for reasons of force majeure, to comply with the temporary requirement to register under the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelan Migrants to do so outside the original deadline. Following the ruling, the Special Rapporteur notes with pleasure the adoption of resolution 4713 of 30 December 2024, which establishes special conditions for accessing the protections under the temporary statute extemporaneously, which include unlawful depravation of liberty, domestic or gender-based violence and/or health issues. 37. To address this gap, Colombia has introduced two additional mechanisms aiming to regularize the approximately 500,000 Venezuelan nationals in irregular situations. First, on 27 September 2024, Colombia issued Decree 1209, established a special residence permit for legal representatives or guardians of children and adolescents. Effective three months after issuance, the permit will remain valid until 30 May 2031, like the temporary protection permit. This mechanism allows the legal representatives or guardians of over 270,000 Venezuelan children and adolescents holding temporary protection permits to regularize their migratory status. It also grants access to the healthcare and education systems and to financial services. 38. In addition to the special residence permit for legal representatives or guardians of children and adolescents, Colombia has also implemented another regularization measure, known as the V-special visitor visa. On 4 March 2025, resolution 12509 of 4 December 2024, came into force. Through the resolution, Colombia established this new temporary category of visa, which is valid for two years from the date of issue. This measure seeks to facilitate GE.25-06163 7