Migration Crisis in Colombia and Costa Rica from a Sentiment Analysis Perspective

Abstract

Latin American cross-regional migratory dynamics have been driven by economic, political, and humanitarian crisis, which has caused an increase in the migratory flow. In Colombia, according to official figures from the migration department, out of 1,825,687 Venezuelans, 43.8% have a regular migratory condition, meaning they have their international ID or a special migratory permit. In Costa Rica, 75% of the immigrants in the country come from Nicaragua, which shows that Nicaraguan immigration has stayed constant over the years. Due to the absence of data to understand the behavior of the phenomenon, based on a sentiment analysis approach, an exploration of posts and opinions from Twitter users in Costa Rica and Colombia on immigration was carried out from January 1st to July 31st, 2019. This study revealed that the main concern of the users of both countries is focused on the subcategories of human rights, security, and unemployment.