writer: lea coon
*in order to protect individuals, we have changed the
names of residents mentioned in this article.
|
Standing in front of his shelter, a boy surveys his community of Las Delicias, Colombia. This part of the eastern Colombian
city of Cucuta is a rubbish dump that has now become a home for thousands of displaced people.
photo | Courtesy of UNHCR/X. Creach
|
| In the midst of a civil conflict that has forcibly displaced
millions of people, some communities in Colombia practice
peaceful resistance in order to remain, return or rebuild. |
| “Everyday we wake up and ask ourselves,‘Well, what are we going to get done today?’” |
In the small rural town of San José de Apartadó, the
stillness of daybreak is punctuated by the sound of
clucking chickens, feet crushing dirt and voices shaking
off sleep. Soon, the town is full of movement as residents
go out to their fields, work around their homes or visit
their neighbors to begin the daily activities necessary to
live in the region of Antioquia, Colombia.
“The daily life of the people always begins with work,”
explains Renato Areiza, one of San José’s leaders.
“Everyday we wake up and ask ourselves, ‘Well, what
are we going to get done today?’”
Having settled the area more than half a century ago,
this community is primarily made up of “campesinos,”
or “farmers,” who work the land and prepare produce for
their families and for market. While work is central to
their livelihood, the residents of San José also take the
time to do the things one normally does in a close-knit
rural community; they attend church, socialize,
play sports and educate their children.
However, unlike other rural communities, the members
of San José continue with their daily lives despite the
constant threat of violent attacks. Members of the
community, and many other Colombian towns like San
José, live in the midst of a complex war fought between |
In San José de Apartadó, a woman and her daughter carry laundry while men repair the fence around the village commons.
photo | Amanda Jack, FOR volunteer |
The conflict in Colombia has plagued its rural population
for over four decades. In the mid-1960s, the Fuerzas
Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC) and
Ejercito de Liberación Nacional (ELN) began their rebel
insurgency campaigns against the Colombian government,
which responded by deploying its own army. The war was
further complicated by the illegal militias and powerful
drug traffickers that began to operate in unsettled,
contested areas created by the conflict. In these areas,
there is no rule of law or respect for the human rights
of civilians. Since the 1980s there have been several
attempts to reach a negotiated settlement between the
Colombian government and different rebel groups. These
negotiations have either failed or have only resulted in
partial demobilization.
This protracted war has taken a severe toll on the
Colombian civilians living in contested areas. In 2006,
the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) announced that Colombia was second only
to Darfur, Sudan, in terms of the number of internally
displaced persons (IDPs) in the country. Since 2002, it is
estimated that 3.6 million people have been forced from
their homes. |
Recently displaced people in Antioquia arrive from rural
areas with their belongings in August 2006.
photo | courtesy of UNHCR/M. H. Verney |
Most displaced people arrive by bus to the city of Daeiba, with
very little resources and with nowhere to go.
photo | courtesy of UNHCR/B. Heger
An IDP shows her new ID card. Providing documents is
crucial for an IDP's entitlement to state services.
photo | courtesy of UNHCR/M. H. Verney |
"Very often [IDPs] come from the countryside, where they
have been living on land they have probably been working
all of their lives - just as their parents probably did,"
explains Marie-Helene Verney, a UNHCR spokesperson
working in Bogotá. "So the reality of displacement,
especially today, comes from rural areas. [These are]
people who . do not have very much . [and] often come
to live in the cities. And so, it's a very difficult transition.
You're talking about people who all their life [sic] have
been working on farms and who really don't necessarily
have the skills [to gain employment in the city]."
IDPs who flee their homes to urban areas in order to
reestablish their lives often find only poverty, disease
and overcrowded living conditions. The vast urban slums
in which they settle often lack health care facilities,
basic sanitation and clean water. The magnitude of the
displacement crisis has made it, in the words of UNHCR
representative Roberto Meier, "The worst humanitarian
catastrophe in the Western Hemisphere."
A UNHCR staff member talks with an IDP family about how to register with the authorities and get assistance from
the state. photo | courtesy of UNHCR/B. Heger |
| “Very often [IDPs] come from the countryside where they have been living on land they
have probably been working all of their lives – just as their parents probably did.” |
A displaced family is living in a shantytown outside of Bogotá. photo | courtesy of UNHCR/B. Heger |
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