In her first mission since being appointed Assistant High Commissioner for Protection last month, Erika Feller today attended a two-day meeting in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito that focused on resettlement in Latin America.

On Wednesday, Ms. Feller met with Colombian refugees living along Ecuador’s northern border. The refugee agency is concerned about the living conditions of nearly 250,000 Colombians residing in Ecuador.

Earlier this week, she held a series of meetings with high-level officials in Colombia and travelled to threatened communities in the western region of Choco, the river community of Tangui and the Colombian capital of Bogotá.

The vast majority of Colombia's IDPs end up living in economically depressed areas in and around large cities all around the country, according to UNHCR.

In Altos de Cazucá, the Bogotá suburb that Ms. Feller visited, makeshift housing, high unemployment, and poverty are the norm. Displaced people who fled armed groups are still suffering from their activities. There have been numerous reports of youngsters being murdered in the area by members of irregular armed groups, UNHCR said.

“The challenges are not to be underestimated,” said Ms. Feller. “Physical security, particularly for women, youth and IDPs community leaders is a serious concern.”

After more than 40 years of armed conflict, Colombia counts more than 2 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and the numbers keep increasing, UNHCR said. Preliminary reports from the Government indicate that in 2005 alone there were more than 131,000 new cases of forced displacement, while non-governmental organizations put the figure much higher.