Colombia and the international community must do more to curb an increase in violence associated with the country’s peace process, according to the United Nations.
The UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the humanitarian situation “requires a greater response effort on behalf of the State, and international attention for the implementation of prevention and care measures.”
The international organization registered a sharp increase in human rights violations in areas that were abandoned by the FARC last year after agreeing to a peace deal with President Juan Manuel Santos.
In the first quarter of 2018, more than 6,600 people were forced to flee their homes, according to the OCHA.
While this number is a fraction of the millions of people who were displaced between 2000 and 2008 when the conflict was at its most violent, the international human rights organization registered a 21% increase in displacement compared to the same period last year.
More than half of the victims were displaced because of armed conflict, followed by threats and attacks by paramilitary groups.
Causes of displacement
More than half a million people were unable to move freely, mainly because of armed conflict in their area, the OCHA said. This is 20 times more than last year.
The violence is mainly affecting the provinces of Antioquia, Norte de Santander, Nariño, Cauca, Choco, Arauca and Guaviare, all areas where until last year the FARC’s rule was law.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
The failure of Colombia’s state forces to assume control in areas where the now-defunct FARC guerrilla group demobilized 14,000 people last year has severely deteriorated public security, multiple observers have said.
The Red Cross, which provides humanitarian assistance in crisis areas, said the state has failed to adequately execute the peace agreement agreed with the FARC.