A Policy Analysis of the Temporary Protection Statute for Venezuelans in Colombia: Normalising Exceptionality using Humanitarian Discourses

Abstract

Abstract The Venezuelan crisis has led to over three million people crossing into Colombia. One strategy to address this situation is the Temporary Protection Statute (TPS), aimed at granting migrants legal status and responsibilities without providing them refugee status. Critics argue that portraying this solution as humanitarian might undermine its role as a protective measure. Additionally, there is a lack of understanding of the TPS as a political tool and the problems it aims to tackle. Using a Post-structural Policy Analysis (PPA), this article unpacks the TPS as a political device and the driving forces behind its development. Through text analysis and qualitative semi-structured interviews, the PPA reveals how the TPS in Colombia can be seen as a multifaceted legal and political tool bridging short-term humanitarian needs (primarily protection, healthcare, and labour market access) and long-term development practices (such as integration through ensuring economic, social, and environmental rights), within a complex political landscape hindering long-term solutions. Its legal text epitomises political drivers and discourses shaping migration governance and international protection. This study also shows PPA’s effectiveness in revealing these political factors and the policy-problem-making justifying the TPS as a solution, and offers case-based insights to enhance comparative migration studies.