Photo Credit: Refugees International
02/17/2007

In Colombia, tens of thousands of families continue to flee their homes in search of safety. The numbers remain staggering: over 200,000 people a year flee their homes, making Colombia the host of the second highest population of internally displaced in the world, second only to Sudan. Although health facilities are required to care for sick displaced people and schools must incorporate students from displaced families, most displaced people have difficulty accessing such services. This displaced man who fled because of fighting between guerrilla and paramilitary groups, told Refugees International, "My mother is 89 years old, she was sick and we took her to the hospital. She waited for hours and was never attended."