Country Information

The Republic of Colombia has a population of approximately 44.5 million people. Fifty-seven percent of the population is Mestizo (mixed Spanish and Indian), 22 percent is black or Creole, 20 percent is white, and one percent is indigenous. 90 percent of the population is Roman Catholic. The current president of the Republic of Colombia is Alvaro Uribe.

Political and Economic Environment

During the course of the 20th century, Colombia became one of the most violent countries in the world. Political exclusion of the poor has been the main cause of the ongoing political strife in Colombia. During the 1930s many peasants began to campaign against the political and economic exclusion of their population by the mainstream Liberal and Conservative political parties. Many of the low income farmers had been marginalized by the powerful landed elite and this led to serious inequality in land distribution. The marginalization of low income farmers led to the emergence of guerilla movements in the 1960s. The principal groups have been the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC) and the National Liberation Army (NLA). In reaction to their growth, the government of Colombia encouraged the development of paramilitaries, or armed civilians, in order to counter the dominance of guerilla movements in certain parts of the country. These paramilitaries became quite active during the 1980s.

The continual conflict between paramilitaries and guerrilla groups has only been exacerbated by the onset and persistence of the illegal drug trade in Colombia. In fact, both the paramilitary groups and FARC have been closely connected with the illegal drug trade because it is a lucrative source of funds for their activities.

President Alvaro Uribe continues to support a military solution when dealing with leftist groups. He has repeatedly insisted that no negotiations will take place with the FARC. Despite a formal demobilization of the 32,500 right wing paramilitary groups, many of these individuals have joined new criminal groups estimated in a number of 9.000, which exercise territorial control on areas used for the production, refinement, and transport of coca and cocaine. Since Uribe’s administration began in 2002, protection for the displaced population has failed to significantly improve. Uribe was reelected in 2006 after the constitution was amended to allow a second term.

Humanitarian Situation

The humanitarian situation in Colombia is characterized by large-scale displacement caused by the conflict. All parties to this three-sided war use tactics against civilians including forced displacement, forced recruitment, and collective punishment. President Uribe has tried to move aggressively against the guerilla forces while trying to entice paramilitaries with generous incentives to demobilize.

More than 300,000 Colombians were displaced in 2007. Civil society statistics estimate that Colombia now has an 3.8 million internally displaced people. However, the government only registered around 2.4 million as per mid-March 2008 as displaced, due to the fact that displaced persons started to be effectively registered in 2002. Although the Colombian government has admitted its failure to prevent further displacement and has increased its financial allocations to respond to the displaced needs, actions taken so far have failed to address adequately the ongoing crisis.

The Colombian government had planned to return 30,000 displaced families between 2003-2006 with the choice to agree to return or be deprived of humanitarian assistance given to those families. According to government sources, some 15,000 families had returned from 2002 to 2004. However, the UNHCR and USCRI have called into question the recent statistics provided the Colombian government regarding returns.

Violence and lack of government support plagues many returnees. Many of the displaced have chosen not to take part in the return process because of such conditions and fears of future displacement. Those who are unwilling to take part in the return process are often denied further assistance by the government as displaced persons.

Other areas of concern include the use of landmines, which caused more than 1,100 Colombians to be maimed or killed on average every year since 2005, in a country that boasts between 70,000 and 100,000 landmines. Also, the Colombian government has failed to protect Afro-Colombians and members of the indigenous population. Both of these groups are subject to human rights abuses and discriminated against when it comes to being recognized as an internally displaced population. Although Colombia has passed progressive legislation committing the government to providing protection and support to displaced persons, implementation has lagged. The challenge to the Government is to take concrete actions to prevent human rights violations and violence against civilians, while creating adequate security for the displaced to return to their homes.

Trafficking and gender-based violence are two other areas of concern in Colombia. Trafficking in the region is a problem. Some traffickers have used the UNHCR logo to entice people to cross borders voluntarily. UNHCR has informed authorities of these occurrences and is attempting to work the Colombian government to combat this problem. The rate of gender-based violence in Colombia is highest among displaced women, highlighting the need to address the displacement issue.

The psychosocial consequences of living in a climate of constant fear from random acts of violence such as assassinations, kidnapping, and intimidation can be debilitating and has a lasting impact on the lives of many Colombians. IDPs are the most vulnerable to such psychological stresses. Many of the programs that address such issues are seriously underfunded by both the Colombian government and international organizations. Such type of assistance must be provided through the emergency phase through the longer term in order to guarantee the success of any assistance effort.

Updated May 2008