Colombia


As many as 1.8 million Colombians were internally displaced at the end of 1999, including about 288,000 who became displaced during the year. According to the Colombian government, nearly 20,000 displaced persons returned home during the year, 5,500 of them with government assistance.

Colombia hosted 246 refugees, all of whom the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) recognized as refugees. The refugees included 74 Nicaraguans, 35 Chileans, 34 Hungarians, and about 100 others of various nationalities.

The number of Colombians seeking refuge abroad, while small compared to the internally displaced population, continued to grow. Thousands of Colombians applied for asylum in Europe, North America, and other countries in recent years. During 1999, some 2,300 Colombians sought asylum in Europe, primarily in the United Kingdom (1,000) and Spain (600). The number of asylum applications filed by Colombians in Europe increased 30 percent from 1998 to 1999. In Canada, 622 Colombians applied for asylum during the year; the approval rate was 50 percent. Another 399 Colombians sought asylum in the United States in 1999. The United States granted refugee status to about 40 percent of the Colombians whose claims it adjudicated during the year, compared to 19 percent in 1998.

An estimated 80,000 to 105,000 Colombians were living in refugee-like circumstances in neighboring countries (Venezuela, 50,000 to 75,000; Ecuador, 30,000; and Panama, 1,100). Tens of thousands of other Colombians traveled to the United States and Europe with tourist visas and remained there after their visas expired. Press reports indicated that hundreds of Colombians migrated to Costa Rica as well. Many did so because they feared persecution in Colombia or the growing effects of the violence there. A large majority did not apply for asylum, perhaps fearing that if denied they would be deported to Colombia. Those who left Colombia in 1999 in search of safe haven abroad included a growing number of politicians (among them Senator Piedad Cordoba, who had earlier been kidnapped by paramilitaries), human rights activists, and journalists– all groups under constant threat in Colombia.

Press reports citing Colombian government officials indicated that as many as 65,000 Colombians who traveled abroad and were due to return to Colombia during the first five months of 1999 did not go back.

Besides the violence and displacement associated with the conflict, Colombia experienced other catastrophes in 1999. In January, a major earthquake hit the town of Armenia, killing 900 and leaving 100,000 homeless. The international community responded generously to the ensuing humanitarian disaster. Proportionately, the earthquake victims drew many times more international assistance than the internally displaced. Throughout the year, Colombia also experienced a serious economic downturn. Unemployment reached a record high and inflation increased.

The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) made its fourth site visit to Colombia in May. It investigated developments during the year and assessed conditions for displaced persons in Bogotá, Arauca, and Cucuta, and also visited areas of Venezuela bordering Colombia.

Number Internally Displaced

For its estimate of the number of displaced in Colombia, USCR relies on Codhes, a Colombian nongovernmental organization (NGO) that works closely with the Catholic Church, other NGOs, and local authorities to produce detailed statistics on displacement in Colombia. Based on this source, USCR estimates the number of displaced persons in Colombia to be 1.8 million at the end of 1999.

During 1999, some 288,000 persons became newly displaced. According to Codhes, 31 percent fled in large groups (a substantial increase in mass displacements over previous years), while 69 percent fled individually or in families or other small groups. Of the newly displaced in 1999, Codhes said 35,300 were in Bolivar Department, 23,800 in Antioquia Department, 21,000 in Norte de Santander Department, and 21,000 in Valle del Cauca Department, particularly in the city of Cali. For the first time in several years, Bogotá and Medellín, Colombia's largest cities, were not the principal recipients of displaced persons.

The Colombian government, on the other hand, reported that 400,000 Colombians were internally displaced and required assistance in 1999. The government's figure represented only those displaced persons who had come forward seeking assistance, however. Many feared doing so. The government figure also omits persons displaced before 1997. In 1999, the government said 22,000 persons newly registered as displaced in order to seek assistance.

Colombian Refugees and Asylum Seekers

More than 11,000 Colombians fled to neighboring countries during the year. The vast majority fled to Venezuela. Some 2,200 of those who fled to Venezuela returned to Colombia voluntarily within days of their flight. However, the Venezuelan military, in collusion with the Colombian military, forcibly returned three groups of Colombians totaling some 1,650 people.

The first of these three groups, comprised of about 650 persons, fled to Venezuela between June 5 and 9. USCR visited them in Venezuela on June 8. They said that, unlike those who had voluntarily returned earlier, they wanted asylum in Venezuela. Subsequently, Colombian military officials met with the refugees and threatened and intimidated them into repatriating. Although the Venezuelan and Colombian authorities both described the repatriation as voluntary, USCR considered it to be involuntary because of its coercive nature.

Another 300 Colombians fled to Venezuela between June 13 and 16. The Venezuelan military immediately returned them to Colombia. On June 29, a group of 700 Colombians entered Venezuela in search of asylum. The Venezuelan authorities forced them to get back in their canoes and return to Colombia. (See Venezuela.)

USCR criticized both the Colombian and Venezuelan government for committing refoulement (forced return of refugees) on both occasions. Nevertheless, the Colombian government continued to claim that the returns were voluntary. The government told USCR that "one hundred percent of the persons who took temporary refuge in that country [Venezuela] opted voluntarily to return to Colombia."

In 1999, Codhes began assessing the number of Colombians who had fled to neighboring countries. Codhes estimated that in addition to the 3,900 Colombians who fled to Venezuela in large groups, another 1,800 fled there individually or in small groups. Like most Colombians who sought refuge in Venezuela, they did not request asylum, but settled anonymously among Colombians living there.

Causes of Displacement

Displacement in Colombia was a direct result of conflict, political violence, and rampant human rights abuse. The conflict in Colombia included the Colombian armed forces, left-wing guerrilla groups, and right-wing paramilitary organizations. Civilians continued to be the primary victims of the latter two groups. The Colombian military said that 975 combatants died in action during 1999, including 686 guerrillas, 263 members of the armed forces, and 26 members of paramilitary groups. According to the U.S. Department of State, however, the conflict left 2,000 to 3,000 civilians dead in 1999.

Colombia's Defensoria del Pueblo, a quasi-governmental organization that defends the rights of the civilian population, reported that 1,863 civilians were killed in 402 massacres during the year. It reported that paramilitaries were responsible for a large majority of the massacres. The Defensoria's figure did not include persons killed individually.

Guerrillas commonly targeted local officials, civic leaders, and business owners whom they perceived to be opposing them. They did so to intimidate the local population into supporting them, although their tactics often alienated civilians and caused them to flee. Many families also fled their homes to avoid guerrilla groups' continued forced recruitment of children, some as young as nine years old. In a major battle between FARC troops and the Colombian military in mid-July, 70 FARC child soldiers aged nine to fifteen were killed in battle.

During 1999, the guerrillas increased their use of kidnapping as a way both to raise funds and sow fear. Guerrillas also profited from the drug industry by taxing narcotraffickers' purchases of coca leaves from peasants. During the year, 11,000 to 17,000 guerrilla carried out operations in 1,000 of Colombia's 1,085 municipalities. Both the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (ELN), the two main guerrilla groups, reportedly abused the rights of the civilian population by engaging in killings, "disappearing" people, and mutilating their victims.

Since 1995, paramilitary groups have displaced more civilians than the guerrillas or the armed forces and have been responsible for an increasing number of massacres of civilians. Members of paramilitary groups, reportedly numbering from 5,000 to 7,000, deliberately displaced civilians from rural areas, ostensibly to eliminate guerrillas' civilian support bases, but more often to benefit their wealthy patrons, including large landholders, business people, and narcotraffickers, and to extend their own political power base. In 1999, paramilitaries increasingly relied on growing and selling coca to finance their operations.

The Colombian armed forces, including the army, navy, air force, and the police, also continued to abuse human rights throughout the year. Those guilty of human rights violations were rarely brought to justice, however. Although the armed forces denied any links with the paramilitaries, an overwhelming body of evidence suggested the contrary.

According to the U.S. State Department's human rights report, "Credible allegations of [the armed forces'] cooperation with paramilitary groups, including instances of both silent support and direct collaboration by members of the armed forces, in particular the army, continued." The report also cited the armed forces' failure to protect civilians known to be at risk of paramilitary attack. In January, for example, the armed forces did not intervene in any of the 19 massacres committed by paramilitaries between January 7 and 10, even though they had ample warning that paramilitary groups were planning the attacks.

Much-anticipated peace talks between the government and the FARC began on January 7, but quickly hit a snag and were suspended on January 12. Despite several efforts to revive them, the talks did not resume until October. They remained underway at year's end.

Conditions for the Displaced

Most displaced Colombians live in poor conditions. UNHCR reports that the displaced evidence "moderate and even acute malnutrition" and that the "absence of the most basic shelter is widespread." Most displaced children, perhaps 75 percent, did not attend school in 1999.

The only work available to most displaced persons is poorly paid day labor, often on construction or road building crews, or cleaning private homes. Many of the displaced try to create work for themselves in the informal economy, buying fruit and vegetables, cigarettes, or other products from markets and wholesalers and selling them on street corners or house to house.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the government provide limited emergency assistance to displaced persons during the first 90 days of their displacement. Emergency assistance reaches only a minority of the newly displaced, however. After 90 days, the displaced must fend for themselves.

In recent years, the government has enacted a law and issued several decrees that outline its responsibilities to the displaced. However, its record on implementing those has remained poor. Regional and local authorities rarely do anything to help the displaced, in part because they have few resources with which to help.

In 1999, the government transferred responsibility for assisting the displaced to yet another government entity, the Red de Solidaridad Social (Social Solidarity Network, hereafter the Red). The Red is a loose-knit network of national and regional governmental agencies that, at the time it was assigned its new role with the displaced, most observers regarded as ineffective.

The Colombian government told USCR that it spent more than $12 million to assist some 36,000 displaced persons in 1999. Its largest expenditures were for the purchase of land for displaced families wishing to resettle in new locations and for health care for displaced persons. According to a report citing UNHCR sources, however, 80 percent of the displaced did not have access to health care and 95 percent of pregnant women did not receive prenatal care.

In 1999, the government actively sought international funding for "Plan Colombia," its blueprint for achieving "peace, prosperity, and the strengthening of the state." The government primarily sought military equipment to combat narcotraffic, which the government said "has become a destabilizing force, altering the economy...[and] corrupting the society." It added that narcotraffic has "doubled the violence...by its contribution of resources to the war apparatus of the armed groups." Plan Colombia also sought, however, $460 million for aid to displaced persons. The government told USCR that the director of the Red visited six European countries in October seeking support for the Plan's aid-to-the-displaced component.

In the absence of an adequate government response, Colombian NGOs, the Catholic Church, and other religious-based organizations were crucial in mobilizing a response to the needs of the displaced. In part with funding from the European Union, they have carried out a number of assistance programs for displaced persons throughout Colombia.

Displaced persons became increasingly frustrated with the lack of attention to their needs. In 1998, 100 displaced persons occupied the office of the Defensoria del Pueblo (Human Rights Ombudsman) for five months to demand help. Protests increased in 1999, as groups of displaced persons continued to take dramatic steps to highlight their plight.

In April, a group of formerly displaced persons occupied the mayor's office in Barrancabermeja. In 1998, they had been part of a large group that fled to Barrancabermeja from Bolívar Department. To convince them to return home, the government promised them protection and assistance. The group occupied the Mayor's office to protest the government's failure to implement those promises. Many of those who had returned home in 1998 based on the government's pledges became displaced again in 1999 as paramilitaries swept through their home areas, killing dozens, perhaps hundreds, of civilians.

More than 80 displaced persons seized the UNHCR office in Bogotá on August 2, and occupied it until August 25. They demanded that the government and international community provide displaced persons adequate assistance. Another group of about 60 displaced persons occupied the ICRC's Bogotá office on December 14 and remained there at year's end. They too sought more assistance for displaced persons.

USCR Response

USCR maintained a high level of advocacy on behalf of internally displaced Colombians and Colombian refugees and asylum seekers during the year. In February, in response to U.S. plans to increase military aid to Colombia for the "war on drugs," USCR wrote members of Congress, saying, "It is incomprehensible that the United States is providing the Colombian police and military $289 million in aid that is not only ineffective but could draw us into a treacherous conflict, yet only offering $2 million in humanitarian aid to help the tragic victims of that conflict."

In May, USCR co-sponsored a conference in Bogotá with the Brookings Institution Project on Internal Displacement and the Grupo de Apoyo a Desplazados to introduce the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. Conference participants included representatives of the Colombian government and military, UN agencies and other international organizations, local NGOs, church groups, and academics. Dr. Francis Deng, the UN secretary general's special representative for internally displaced persons, who led efforts to introduce the guiding principles, also participated in the conference.

When the Colombian military colluded with its Venezuelan counterpart in the forcible return of 1,650 Colombian refugees from Venezuela in June, USCR wrote to Colombian President Andres Pastrana, saying, "To intimidate and threaten them [the refugees] into repatriating – particularly in view of your government's manifest inability to protect its civilian population – was immoral."

Later in the year, noting the rise in Colombians arriving in the United States as a consequence of violence and conflict in Colombia, USCR wrote to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno urging her to extend temporary protected status (TPS) to Colombians in the United States. USCR wrote, "Given the escalation of the conflict in Colombia and the Colombian government's inability to protect civilians from danger, we believe it is wrong to return nationals of that county now in the United States who fear returning." USCR also prompted more than 20 other U.S. NGOs to write to Reno in support of TPS for Colombians. At year's continued to review the matter.

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