Some 15,000 Colombians have been internally displaced each month since peace talks between the FARC rebel group and the government began two years ago, according to the United Nations.
FACT SHEET: Displacement statistics
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimated in an August report that more than 300,000 people have been displaced since November 2012, which is the month peace negotiations began in Havana, Cuba.
While 30% of the displacements are caused by unknown actors, armed confrontations between the Colombian armed forces and the FARC are the most common known cause at 27%.
Of the known groups that displace civilians with unilateral actions, neo-paramilitary groups like the Urabeños are responsible for the largest portion at 23%. The FARC is next with 17%, followed the ELN with 3%.
According to the OCHA, Afro-Colombians and indigenous populations make up the majority of those displaced at 74%.
Colombia is home to one of the world’s largest populations of displaced people. Half a century of war has uprooted a total of almost six million Colombians to date; a statistic which places the country second only to Syria with Nigeria at third, according to the latest data from the International Displacement Monitoring Center.
The number of people displaced in Colombia fell by 32% from 2012 to 2013, according to a joint report by the Colombian government and a local NGO released in June.
MORE: Number of Colombians displaced by violence fell by almost a third in 2013
The government faces significant challenges in updating its registry for internally displaced persons (IDPs).
A victims’ registry created in 2011 as part of the Victims and Land Restitution Law which aims to redress the rights of displaced persons, faces a backlog waiting of requests to be evaluated. The law “has been hampered by a lack of financial resources and delays in the appointment of essential staff,” according the the IDMC.
Sources
- Tendencias Humanitarias – Colombia – Nov 2012 – Jun 2014 (Sala Humanitaria)
- En dos años de diálogos de paz, más de 15 mil personas sufrieron desplazamiento cada mes: ONU (RCN Radio)
- Latest IDP Numbers By Country (International Displacement Monitoring Center)