UN agency moves to protect native populations fleeing Colombia for Venezuela

The United Nations refugee agency today said it was joining other humanitarian organizations rushing to locate and protect hundreds of indigenous Wayúu people driven across the border into Venezuela from their native lands in Colombia by deadly paramilitary strikes.

Over the past week, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has been carrying out an assessment mission in the Venezuelan border state of Zulia, where perhaps as many as 500 Wayúu - mostly women and children - have fled from fighting and massacres by illegal armed groups in Colombia. Those attacks have reportedly left 30 people dead and another 60 are reported missing.

"We have registered 306 indigenous Wayúu who have sought refuge in Venezuela, although the total number who have fled may be as high as 500 according to the indigenous leaders," UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said at a press briefing in Geneva. He added that it was difficult to get a precise count since many of those on the run have sought shelter in the homes of family members, and some are reluctant to come forward and to be identified.

The scarcity of resources and space as well as the general impoverishment of the indigenous communities are presenting significant problems for both the displaced and their hosts. "We are working with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the Red Cross, and other non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and government authorities to organize the urgent delivery of food, medicine and other supplies to the affected persons," Mr. Janowski said.

Given their strong cultural attachments to their native territory, chiefly in and around Bahia Portete in La Guajira, Colombia, approximately 40 per cent of the displaced have expressed a desire to return to their homes. However, UNHCR said that as the security situation remains precarious, there was no immediate prospect of facilitating their return.