Colombia: UN agency voices ‘extreme concern’ at continued attacks on displaced

The United Nations refugee agency today called on all armed groups in Colombia to respect international humanitarian law and leave civilians out of the more than four-decades-long conflict which has uprooted some 3 million people in fighting between the Government, leftist rebels and right-wing paramilitaries.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reiterated its “extreme concern” at a recent series of assaults on displaced people and their organizations, including last month’s arson attack that partially destroyed the premises of the League of Displaced Women in Cartagena, one of the agency’s oldest partners in Colombia.

“We also request the Colombian Government to continue to increase its efforts to protect displaced people,” UNHCR spokesperson Jennifer Pagonis told a news briefing in Geneva, noting that more than 170,000 people were forcibly displaced last year, according to government figures.

Colombia’s displaced make up about 8 per cent of the country’s total population and represent the largest single group of concern to UNHCR anywhere in the world.

Last Friday UNHCR joined with more than 130 national and international organizations and the Government to launch the 2007 Campaign for the Rights of Displaced People in Colombia.

“While the Government has stepped up its efforts on behalf of displaced people, many still face daily problems with housing, education, health and access to work,” Ms. Pagonis said, noting that they are also at high risk of insecurity and violence.

“This year’s campaign starts amid our growing concerns over attacks on displaced people and their organizations. In recent weeks, several leaders of the displaced have been killed, including two in the Atlantic Coast region in the past two weeks,” she added.

Last month UNHCR announced that it was opening two more field offices in the country, bringing the total to 12.