Colombian Indigenous People Displaced
By Sarah Cattan for the Chronicle
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| The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is "extremely concerned" about the situation of indigenous people in Colombia. Heavy fighting between left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary groups forces people to leave their lands, according to UNHCR. The UN agency reported that indigenous families were victims of violence and intimidation committed by irregular armed groups, whose members had raped several indigenous women and girls. Hundreds of Guahibo-Sikuani people recently left the northeastern department of Arauca, and violent rebel groups are threatening the Kuna people who may soon have to abandon their lands in the northwestern province of the country to seek asylum in Panama. In response to the alarming situation, UNHCR has taken legal and practical measures to protect displaced people and prevent further displacement. On May 16 in Geneva, UNHCR signed with Colombia's authorities a landmark agreement, designed to encourage the Colombian Senate and its Human Rights Commission "to take effective action to prevent forced displacement and to protect and assist those who have been forced out of their homes by the conflict". The UN agency will offer advice and specialized training to the Senate and local human rights organizations to promote the rights of displaced people and supervise developments for indigenous people in the northern provinces of the country. Official government data already register one million of internally displaced people, while unofficial statistics estimate the figure to be as high as 3 million. Besides relocating within Colombia, the displaced people flee to neighbouring countries, such as Panama or Ecuador, where 16000 Colombians have sought asylum as refugees since 2000. |
| Links |
| A Celebration of the Role of Indigenous Populations at the United Nations |
| International Decade of the World's Indigenous People 1995 - 2004 |
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