By Fiorella Bafundo
As the “war” in Colombian between the FARC and paramilitary operations continues aimed to stop the trafficking of drugs and unify all the Colombian land under the government authority, hundreds of Colombian Indians are being displaced from their villages. Soldiers persecuting rebels and trying to get to their camps and also rebels escaping from them in order to continue their economic activity (the production of drugs, especially cocaine which is exported almost entirely to the United States), have created a situation where the most affected people are the Indigenous communities which are struggling to stay in their villages but because of the violence have had to move.
“In Chocó, the Embera fleeing during the first three months of this year almost equaled the 2,400 displaced in all of 2008,” said a peace commissioner. All the problems are increased as the government of Colombia does not show clear actions to help these communities, and also, as rich land owners are involved due to their opposition to the land reforms the government has been trying to foster. A lot of refugees are worried about their destiny and hope that this conflict and the current situation won’t last for months nor years.
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