Thousands displaced by worsening violence in Colombia

More than 3,000 people were displaced in the first weeks of January due to the escalation conflict in the Colombian Pacific.

Another 10,000 are closed, according to an alert this Thursday. Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), who asked for more support for the victims.

In two municipalities in the department of Nariño (southwest), Olaya Herrera and Samaniego, clashes between groups forced more than 3,000 people to flee in the first ten days of January, according to local authorities and The UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs gathered a Norwegian non-governmental organization.

In addition, there were also mass displacements in the neighboring department of Valle del Cauca and in Chocó, in the northwest.

More than 9,000 people have been imprisoned since November, also due to inter-group conflicts and threats to communities.

“We call on the authorities, especially the recently appointed mayors and governors in the Pacific region, to continue their commitment to help victims of armed conflict,” he requested. NRC Director for Colombia, Giovanni Rizzo.

The director of the NGO believes that the authorities “must ensure that communities have access to much-needed life-saving humanitarian aid and basic services, such as education and health.”

According to the Colombian Humanitarian Forum, which brings together dozens of national and international organizations, almost 350,000 people were forcibly displaced between January and August last year due to conflict and violence.

Bogotá National Park hides the reality of indigenous communities displaced by violence

Every morning for almost three months Enrique Olaya Herrera Central National Park in Bogota They dawn with a hundred indigenous children wandering and playing in the corridors formed between the plastic tents where more than 400 Embera indigenous people sleep.

Due to violence, they were displaced from their communities of origin and first settled in the central park of the Colombian capital in September 2021, only to be relocated to the outskirts of the city nine months later.