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Emergency aid delivered to isolated Colombian river villages

Briefing Notes, 22 April 2008

This is a summary of what was said by UNHCR spokesperson Ron Redmond – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at the press briefing, on 22 April 2008, at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

UNHCR last week organised an emergency humanitarian mission to bring assistance to several indigenous communities along the Guaviare River in Colombia.

Fourteen tons of food aid provided by the World Food Programme – our sister agency – were delivered by boat to some 1,000 people at four points along the river: Mocuare, Puerto Alvira, Barranco Colorado and the municipal centre of Mapiripan. The area is disputed by rival irregular armed groups, while the national Armed Forces are trying to recuperate control of the territory.

UNHCR had requested the assistance of WFP, who immediately responded, because of an extremely difficult humanitarian situation in the area, with critical food shortages and very high risks of forced displacement in the first three communities. The area is remote and accessible only by river. It is disputed territory; fear and a shortage of gasoline have brought boat transport to a standstill.

Rumours of imminent and worsening conflict have caused widespread panic among the civilian population. Hundreds of people have fled, sometimes walking for days across the forest. The village of Barranco Colorado is largely empty, aside from two indigenous groups of around 40 families each. Puerto Alvira has lost an estimated 75 percent of its estimated 3,000 people. People are also fleeing from Mocuare.

Those who have stayed are now virtually cut off from the rest of the world. Food is not getting through. The very little that is available is extremely expensive. Mission members also noted an acute shortage of medication, with no available means to evacuate the sick in an emergency.

The local church, representatives of the ombudsman's office and staff of the Colombian Ministry for Social Welfare took part in the mission with UNHCR and WFP. In addition to food rations, they distributed basic hygiene kits and school materials donated by the local municipality.

Most of the beneficiaries belonged to the Guyabero and Nukak Maku groups. A few non-indigenous families identified as extremely vulnerable also received assistance. Both the Guyabero and the Nukak Maku Indians are indigenous to the Guaviare region. Many have been forced to flee their lands as a result of the armed conflict, putting at risk their survival as unique ethnic groups.

Under Colombian and international law, special efforts must be made to protect such groups from losing their traditional lands and last week's mission was part of a series of preventive protection measures to this end. UNHCR and WFP, together with local partners, are also starting several projects in the area, such as a school restaurant in Puerto Alvira and welfare programmes for elderly people and the under-five.

There are 80 different indigenous groups in Colombia, who together make up 2 percent of the country's total population. They have been forced to flee their homes in even greater percentages than the rest of their compatriots. At the end of 2007, some 2.4 million Colombians are registered with the government as victims of forced internal displacement.

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Struggling with the threat of extinction

Among Colombia's many indigenous groups threatened with extinction, few are in a riskier situation than the Tule. There are only about 1,200 of them left in three locations in the neighbouring departments of Choco and Antiquoia in north-western Colombia.

One group of 500 live in Choco's Unguia municipality, a strategically important area on the border with Panama that is rich in timber, minerals and other natural resources. Unfortunately, these riches have attracted the attention of criminal and illegal armed groups over the past decade.

Many tribe members have sought shelter in Panama or elsewhere in Choco. But a determined core decided to stay, fearing that the tribe would never survive if they left their ancestral lands and gave up their traditional way of life.

UNHCR has long understood and sympathized with such concerns, and the refugee agency has helped draw up a strategy to prevent displacement, or at least ensure that the Tule never have to leave their territory permanently.

Struggling with the threat of extinction

Indigenous people in Colombia

There are about a million indigenous people in Colombia. They belong to 80 different groups and make up one of the world's most diverse indigenous heritages. But the internal armed conflict is taking its toll on them.

Like many Colombians, indigenous people often have no choice but to flee their lands to escape violence. Forced displacement is especially tragic for them because they have extremely strong links to their ancestral lands. Often their economic, social and cultural survival depends on keeping these links alive.

According to Colombia's national indigenous association ONIC, 18 of the smaller groups are at risk of disappearing. UNHCR is working with them to support their struggle to stay on their territories or to rebuild their lives when they are forced to flee.

UNHCR also assists indigenous refugees in neighbouring countries like Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela and Brazil. UNHCR is developing a regional strategy to better address the specific needs of indigenous people during exile.

Indigenous people in Colombia

Education for Displaced Colombians

UNHCR works with the government of Colombia to address the needs of children displaced by violence.

Two million people are listed on Colombia's National Register for Displaced People. About half of them are under the age of 18, and, according to the Ministry of Education, only half of these are enrolled in school.

Even before displacement, Colombian children attending school in high-risk areas face danger from land mines, attacks by armed groups and forced recruitment outside of schools. Once displaced, children often lose an entire academic year. In addition, the trauma of losing one's home and witnessing extreme violence often remain unaddressed, affecting the child's potential to learn. Increased poverty brought on by displacement usually means that children must work to help support the family, making school impossible.

UNHCR supports the government's response to the educational crisis of displaced children, which includes local interventions in high-risk areas, rebuilding damaged schools, providing school supplies and supporting local teachers' organizations. UNHCR consults with the Ministry of Education to ensure the needs of displaced children are known and planned for. It also focuses on the educational needs of ethnic minorities such as the Afro-Colombians and indigenous people.

UNHCR's ninemillion campaign aims to provide a healthy and safe learning environment for nine million refugee children by 2010.

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