Red Cross: Thousands fleeing Colombia violence
Big increase in civilians forced to flee their homes due to Colombia fighting
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Thursday, 16, Apr 2009 12:56
An increasing number of civilians have been forced to flee their homes due to the fighting between the Colombian authorities and rebel guerrilla groups, the Red Cross has said.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) spoke out after appeals to both sides involved in the fighting to do more to protect civilians fell on deaf ears.
In 2008 it gave food and household items to 73,000 people forced to flee their homes because of the fighting, a ten per cent increase on 2007. Half of these 73,000 were children.
One in five of those the ICRC helped said their lives had been threatened, and one in ten had been threatened with forced recruitment.
"I left my farm two years ago, because I didn't want to cooperate with the armed group that controlled our village," said Abelardo Antonio, who lives in Putumayo state.
Ignacia María, who lives in the conflict-afflicted Nariño state, said: "Different armed groups pass through our village; we are anxious and nervous, and I don't know what to do with my daughters."
Christophe Bentley, head of the ICRC's Colombia delegation, said: "Sadly, far too many civilians in Colombia continue to be targeted.
"In 2008 the ICRC documented over 1,600 alleged violations of international humanitarian law, including 300 summary executions, 205 direct attacks against civilians, 289 disappearances and 83 instances of forced displacement.
"These statistics make it clear that the parties to the conflict are not doing enough to ensure that their fighters spare and protect civilians."
The ICRC said many of the displaced civilians end up in city slums where they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and sexual abuse.
And as fighting moves into more remote, mountainous areas, those affected tend to be of indigenous or African descent. These ethnic minorities have to battle racial prejudice and stigma if they end up in urban areas. Last year over one fifth of civilians helped by the ICRC were ethnic minorities.
The Colombian government has been locked in a bitter war with rebel groups like FARC since the mid 1960s.