Mentally ill Dutch woman found in FARC area

The Dutch Embassy in Bogota is trying to fly home a mentally ill woman from the Netherlands who was found in FARC-controlled area in the Colombian jungle a few months ago.

According to Dutch newspaper Sp!ts, the woman has been living on a small army-controlled airport the past few months after an embassy worker who was in the region by chance found her carrying a sign saying “I want to go to Amsterdam.” The newspaper did not specify where the woman was found.

The woman had illegally entered Colombia from Venezuela for unknown reasons, the newspaper said in its Friday edition.

According to embassy employee Ronald Barnhoorn, the woman has a history of mental illness.

“When I talked to her on the phone for the first time it took me quite a while to clarify I was not her father,” the official told the newspaper.

“Fortunately the police is taking care of her and giving her food. She’s very timid, but the policemen are very nice,” Barnhoorn said.

A sister of the woman reportedly is preparing to come to Colombia. “We hope she will then go back to the Netherlands,” said the embassy official.

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