RI Advocates on Mission in Colombia
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Advocates Sean and Andrea are now on mission in Colombia, where three million people have been displaced from their homes. The focus of this mission is to assess the current situation for internally displaced people (IDPs) prior to the March visit of UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres.
RI last traveled to Colombia in June 2006, where we found hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in deplorable conditions in urban areas. In addition, the Colombian government was not adequately protecting displaced people or meeting their humanitarian needs, such as food, water, shelter or health care. Sean and Andrea are following up on this previous work in order to offer recommendations to the UN Refugee Agency and other policy makers as they discuss Colombia's policies towards displaced people.
Andrea and Sean have spent the past few days traveling in the north to meet with displaced communities. Here is a personal account from Sean in the field:
We left Cartagena for the inland city of Sinselejo early Sunday morning and made a stop in San Onofre along the way, where we were able to meet a few displaced families who have received absolutely no government assistance in four years. To top it off, they had to invade land to have somewhere to live, and after a year of fighting with the land owner (who finally sold the land to the city), they had to scrounge around to find materials to build their own houses. As a result, they were living in desperate conditions – one meal a day if they were lucky, houses that barn animals would complain about, health care services that thought the little red pill (Advil) was the solution to all ills, and few hopes for the future.
The worst part is that most of these people have left lives of farming for safety in the cities – as a result, they have no training to do any kind of urban work. They’re desperate to get a little piece of land to farm so they can support their families, and few hopes of doing so. And to make it worse, they’re usually on the outer edges of cities where they are surrounded by unused farmlands or grazing fields that land owners refuse to sell – so they can see their salvation, but know they’ll be shot if they try to reach it.
Unfortunately, we saw the same problem play out in Sinselejo and in the displaced communities of Tierra Alta – with the complication that these communities have often been robbed of government services – we heard one story of a woman who was promised a house by the government, and when she went to claim it, she was told that she was already living in it and that they had her signature from four different house visits – she has never seen the house. Another series of communities were told that the government had video footage of a new water system in their towns as proof that they were completed – we saw no water anywhere, and villages full of frustrated people as a result. The stories go on and on and on, and it makes you wonder how to move forward with a situation like this – when resources are stolen at every turn so that there are none left by the time they are supposed to reach the beneficiaries.
Despite this, we’re working hard on a few solid ideas for how to get some progress. I’ll fill you in on them when they are more concrete.
As for the rest of the trip so far, the cities of the past few days have been really interesting. We’re in cattle country, and I’ve had some of the best beef I’ve eaten in a long time. The restaurants are full of dozens of fruits – many that I know and many that I don’t – so we’re having fun drinking different things. Though I’m still a fan of my guanabana, I do like ordering lolo juice just so I can say the silly name.
RI last traveled to Colombia in June 2006, where we found hundreds of thousands of displaced people living in deplorable conditions in urban areas. In addition, the Colombian government was not adequately protecting displaced people or meeting their humanitarian needs, such as food, water, shelter or health care. Sean and Andrea are following up on this previous work in order to offer recommendations to the UN Refugee Agency and other policy makers as they discuss Colombia's policies towards displaced people.
Andrea and Sean have spent the past few days traveling in the north to meet with displaced communities. Here is a personal account from Sean in the field:
We left Cartagena for the inland city of Sinselejo early Sunday morning and made a stop in San Onofre along the way, where we were able to meet a few displaced families who have received absolutely no government assistance in four years. To top it off, they had to invade land to have somewhere to live, and after a year of fighting with the land owner (who finally sold the land to the city), they had to scrounge around to find materials to build their own houses. As a result, they were living in desperate conditions – one meal a day if they were lucky, houses that barn animals would complain about, health care services that thought the little red pill (Advil) was the solution to all ills, and few hopes for the future.
The worst part is that most of these people have left lives of farming for safety in the cities – as a result, they have no training to do any kind of urban work. They’re desperate to get a little piece of land to farm so they can support their families, and few hopes of doing so. And to make it worse, they’re usually on the outer edges of cities where they are surrounded by unused farmlands or grazing fields that land owners refuse to sell – so they can see their salvation, but know they’ll be shot if they try to reach it.
Unfortunately, we saw the same problem play out in Sinselejo and in the displaced communities of Tierra Alta – with the complication that these communities have often been robbed of government services – we heard one story of a woman who was promised a house by the government, and when she went to claim it, she was told that she was already living in it and that they had her signature from four different house visits – she has never seen the house. Another series of communities were told that the government had video footage of a new water system in their towns as proof that they were completed – we saw no water anywhere, and villages full of frustrated people as a result. The stories go on and on and on, and it makes you wonder how to move forward with a situation like this – when resources are stolen at every turn so that there are none left by the time they are supposed to reach the beneficiaries.
Despite this, we’re working hard on a few solid ideas for how to get some progress. I’ll fill you in on them when they are more concrete.
As for the rest of the trip so far, the cities of the past few days have been really interesting. We’re in cattle country, and I’ve had some of the best beef I’ve eaten in a long time. The restaurants are full of dozens of fruits – many that I know and many that I don’t – so we’re having fun drinking different things. Though I’m still a fan of my guanabana, I do like ordering lolo juice just so I can say the silly name.
Labels: Colombia
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