UN: violence caused displacement of 1,500 Colombians in Arauca | News

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on Monday the existence of more than 400 displaced families and more than 1,500 people in need of international protection as victims of displacement due to the violence affecting the Colombian department of Arauca.

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According to information from OCHA, in correspondence with data from the Ombudsman's Office, this group of people is mainly self-sheltered in informal settlements in the municipality of Arauquita, and have needs in food security, cleanliness and psychosocial care.

The conflict, according to OCHA, is not limited to the department of Arauca, since international specialists have information on armed actions that generated the massive displacement of 84 people in Norte de Santander and the displacement of more than 585 people, including 146 refugees and migrants. displaced and 132 indigenous people in need of international protection.

In this way, OCHA, as well as the Ombudsman's Office, anticipates the continuation of the forced displacement of communities living in the border area and, for now, warns about the risk of a massive displacement of the communities of the Corocito, Babaica villages. , La Holanda and Caño Guarapo, located in the municipality of Tame.

At the same time, they recall that it must be taken into account that these humanitarian emergencies take place in the context of the health emergency caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The OCHA and the Ombudsman point out that this implies additional risks and difficulties for the institutions and humanitarian organizations to access the communities, preventing or limiting a response to the needs of the population.

For both the OCHA and the Ombudsman, what is happening in Arauca is the repetition of what happened between 2005 and 2011, when illegal armed groups clashed and caused the displacement of hundreds of inhabitants of the territory, there were a thousand deaths and they disappeared. community leaders, human rights defenders and peasants.