RIGHTS-COLOMBIA: UN Mission Has Dire Forecast for Civil War

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, Aug 31 2001 (IPS) - A United Nations mission that recently wrapped up a visit to Colombia forecasts an escalation of the civil war there in the coming months and a further decline in the civilian population’s living standards in the zones of conflict.

The situation is becoming progressively worse, says Kofi Asomani, special coordinator on Internal Displacement for the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Hopes for peace are diminishing, while the leftist guerrillas, right-wing paramilitaries and the government forces seem to believe that weapons are the only answer, Asomani commented during a press conference Friday in Geneva.

The UN official led an inter-agency mission Aug 16-24 to the South American nation, determining that the situation of the people displaced internally by the decades-long civil war is deteriorating.

Currently, there are approximately 700,000 Colombians who remain in the country but are not living in their own homes because they were forced out as a result of the violence, which is blamed on right-wing paramilitaries, leftist guerrilla groups and the government armed forces.

In the first half of 2001, some 80,000 people were forced from their hometowns by the civil war. The total number of people who have been displaced over the last six years surpasses two million, or nearly five percent of the national population of 41.6 million.

The UN mission’s report underscored its concern about the numerous reports that the parties to the conflict are increasingly targeting civilians.

Asomani listed the dangers the Colombian people are facing at the hands of the forces involved in the civil war: extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, forced relocation and sexual abuse.

Insecurity in Colombia is accompanied by impunity, said the diplomat, pointing out that less than 10 percent of human rights crimes are ever brought to trial.

“In the past months, there has been a progressive increase in the numbers, geographical extension and political complexities of the displacement phenomenon,” said the head of the UN inter- agency mission.

“These populations – particularly those coming from rural areas – are in urgent need of protection and assistance in almost every sector,” said Asomani. But the UN agencies have a combined total of only 15 million dollars, a relatively small sum, to spend this year on relief activities in Colombia.

The agencies participating in the efforts are the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Also contributing are the World Food Programme (WFP), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

Asomani commented that the Andrés Pastrana government in Colombia and the humanitarian community in general are undertaking significant efforts to attend to the needs of displaced people.

Nevertheless, the mission reports that “these vulnerable populations continued to suffer extreme hardship and poverty.” Most live in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions with limited access to basic services such as health, water and sanitation and education.

The displaced receive very limited assistance, and for a period limited to just three months. The government and the humanitarian organisations must also take the medium- and long-term needs of the displaced population into account, advised the diplomat.

The UN mission recommends that emergency assistance should only be lifted “when the displaced have been provided with adequate means to recreate a sustainable livelihood.”

In addition to the internal phenomenon of displacement, the number of Colombians fleeing the country because of the civil war has risen sharply.

Within the first six months of this year, more than 6,000 Colombians requested asylum in the United States or in Europe. This is twice the figure recorded for the same period in 2000.

Costa Rica, a country located relatively close to Colombia, received more than 2,000 Colombians in the first half of this year, compared to just 333 in the same period last year. More than 1,800 fled to neighbouring Ecuador, in contrast to the 30 who fled across the border during the first semester of 2000.

The Pastrana government acknowledges that, as the armed conflict wears on, it is necessary to continue seeking solutions that allow the civilian population to live with security and dignity, the UN mission leader told the press Friday.