More than 20 displaced people were injured in a confrontation with the armed forces in the northern department of Magdalena, during the eviction of 300 families living in the area.
The confrontation occurred when the displaced citizens ignored orders by authorities to vacate the premises in the municipality of Salamina. According to El Espectador those displaced were not offered an alternative location.
Locals and human rights defenders said that this was a case of double aggression by the state against the community, as whole families had fled their homes because of armed conflict in the area and now they were again the object of direct attacks, El Espectador reported.
A community spokesperson said that they refused to vacate the premises “as a response to corruption and the disregard for our rights by Incoder [the Colombian Institute for Rural Development] … who gave this site to us as people who are not farmers nor affiliated with political groups in the region.”
Four people suffered severe head wounds, and women and children were reportedly among those injured.