Colombia refugees.doc

难民署帮助厄瓜多尔境内数万名哥伦比亚难民获得合法身份(1:55) 2010年4月6日联合国难民署月日发布的媒体公报称，该署近期在南美洲国家厄瓜多尔境内启动了大规模难民注册行动，并通过创新举措，帮助当地近万名哥伦比亚难民及庇护寻求者获得了合法的身份证明，为这一脆弱人群未来寻求援助及司法保护提供了便利。请听联合国电台记者程浩的报道：难民署发言人马赫西奇（Andrej Mahecic）日在日内瓦向媒体表示，此次在厄瓜多尔开展的难民注册行动历时个月，主要集中在哥伦比亚难民聚集的北部偏远地区，截至月底已总共为万多名可以确认身份的难民及寻求庇护者提供了合法证件。马赫西奇：（英语）这是难民署在拉美国家开展的一项示范行动，因为当地绝大多数难民要注册身份必须到位于城镇的指定地点办理，而且审批程序往往需要花费几个月的时间。难民署在此次行动中使用了移动注册的创新方法，即派遣工作人员到难民家中办理手续。这避免了生活在偏远地区的难民由于信息匮乏、路途遥远或者恐惧等原因而错失通过正当庇护申请程序来获得合法身份的机会的问题；同时，仅用一天的时间，他们便可以获得合法证件。马赫西奇表示，此次行动使厄瓜多尔境内的注册难民数量增加了一倍，目前已超过了万人，其中均来自邻国哥伦比亚。如果没有合法身份，这些人将无法寻求司法保护，也不能享受各种救助和支持。然而，该国境内现在还有万多名从邻国逃来的人员需要国际保护，但却没有经过登记注册。程浩，联合国纽约总部报道。哥伦比亚难民儿童2006/07/13 16:21来源：联合国难民署发表评论哥伦比亚难民儿童 After more than forty years of internal armed conflict, Colombia has one of the largest populations of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the world. Well over two million people have been forced to flee their homes; many of them have left remote rural areas to take refuge in the relative safety of the cities. UNHCR is working with the authorities to ensure that the rights of internally displaced people are fully respected - including the rights to basic services, health and education, as well as security. 经过40多年的内战，哥伦比亚目前拥有世界上最大数量的国内流离失所人口。大约有200万人被迫离乡背井，很多人离开了偏远的农村地区，来到相对比较安全的城市避难。难民署和当局一起帮助保障这些国内流离失所者的基本权利包括享受基本设施的权利、卫生和教育的权利以及保障他们的安全。人民观察：请给难民安个家本报驻委内瑞拉记者刘宏 今年6月20日是第四个世界难民日，联合国难民署及其驻世界各地的代表机构举办了主题为“我想有个家”的纪念活动，以推动国际社会重视难民问题，并帮助他们返回和重新建立自己的家园。全球难民1710万难民问题一直是国际社会面临的棘手问题，它严重困扰着世界许多国家和地区。联合国难民署的最新统计表明，尽管去年全球难民人数比2002年减少了18，但依然有1710万之多。非洲和中东是世界上难民输出最多的地区。但是，南美的安第斯也是世界上输出大量难民的地区之一。安第斯地区包括哥伦比亚、厄瓜多尔、玻利维亚、秘鲁和委内瑞拉5国，其难民主要来自哥伦比亚。哥内战打了40年，至今未停，是南美洲规模最大、持续时间最长的一场内战，哥人民为此遭受了巨大的战争创伤。最近10年，内战给这个国家造成了数百亿美元的经济损失，300多万人流离失所，其中120万人被迫逃亡他国。哥伦比亚国内的政府军、右翼准军事武装和左翼游击队各踞一方，军事上呈三足鼎立之势，时常兵戎相见。准军事武装是大地主和矿主建立的私人武装，专门对付游击队。游击队成立之初尚能为理想和信念而战。上个世纪80年代初，游击队与政府展开和平谈判，开始走出丛林，参与国内选举。然而，极右势力担心左派政治影响的扩大，遂指使准军事武装进行大规模的暗杀活动，在政府无力阻止暗杀浪潮、和平进程遭到破坏的情况下，游击队员们又重新拿起武器。但是，最近这些年来，游击队的理想主义已荡然无存，他们为生存、为钱财而不择手段。为了筹钱，他们制毒贩毒、绑架勒索，无所不为。游击队的袭击目标不再局限于军警和政客，大量无辜平民也成了牺牲品。哥伦比亚贫富两极分化严重，贫困人口超过60，其中绝大多数分布在偏远农村。不幸的是，无论是游击队还是准军事武装都把其触角伸向偏远地区，广大农牧民成了他们敲诈勒索的对象。农牧民必须将其微薄收入的相当一部分作为保护费交给游击队或准军事武装，否则将有性命之忧。遇到两者间的武装冲突，无辜的农牧民往往成为获胜一方的报复对象。因为逃避战乱或不堪忍受敲诈勒索，许多农牧民流离失所、背井离乡。据悉，哥伦比亚现有注册难民120万，但实际数字要翻一番。这些难民不仅被迫在国内辗转迁移，许多人还涌入周边邻国，以求得暂时的安定。委内瑞拉、厄瓜多尔和巴拿马等邻国成了哥伦比亚难民逃难的首选地。扶助难民任重道远联合国难民署及其在世界各地的分支机构对保护无家可归者或即将失去家园的人的安全负有责任。但因经费有限和热点地区战乱不止，难民署的任务变得越来越艰巨。另外，难民遭遇也每况愈下。在全球范围内，难民遭到越来越强烈的排斥，各国迅速构筑起壁垒，尽量将难民拒之门外。寻求避难的人除了肉体和精神上的痛苦之外，可能要长达数年生活在恐惧之中。他们担心被驱逐，担心得不到永久定居和工作的权利，担心没有资格领取福利补贴或被扣押，担心被关进难民营。联合国难民署一向不主张难民返回依然发生武装冲突的地区。对于确认了身份的难民，难民署会尽量保障他们的各种权利。联合国难民署驻哥伦比亚和委内瑞拉的代表表示，这一机构多年来帮助在委内瑞拉境内的大批哥伦比亚难民申请临时居住权，帮助他们的子女联系在当地学校就学，其中最重要的就是帮助这些难民建一个暂时栖身的家。但是，彻底解决难民问题就要铲除产生难民的根源，这显然不是一朝一夕就能办到的。如前所述，尽管去年从全球范围来看难民人数有所下降，但联合国难民署面临的工作依然十分艰巨。希望每年的世界难民日能够引起世人对难民问题的关注，最终有利于世界难民问题的彻底解决。（本报加拉加斯6月20日电）人民日报2004年06月22日第三版WHY HAVE MILLIONS OF COLOMBIANS FLED HOME?More than four decades of conflict have turned Colombia into one of the worlds worst humanitarian hotspots, with millions caught up in the crossfire between government troops, leftist rebels, cocaine smugglers and far-right paramilitary militias. Landmine casualties among worst in the world Centre of world cocaine production Latin Americas oldest guerrilla war Threats, intimidation, assassinations and massacres have forced over 3 million Colombians from their homes in the countryside - one of the highest rates of internally displaced people in the world - while tens of thousands more have been killed since the start of the 1990s. A hardline conservative government - popular with many people for cutting crime but criticised by human rights activists for taking U.S. money to fund a clumsy crackdown on cocaine production - has weakened the countrys two main rebel groups, and persuaded over 30,000 right-wing paramilitaries to disarm. But thousands more have taken their place and peace remains elusive. Unlike some other content on this website, the written content in this article may be republished or redistributed by any means free of charge. Any use of photographs and graphics on this website is expressly prohibited. You must check whether written content contained in other articles on this website may be republished or redistributed without the express permission of Reuters or the relevant third party provider. 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Background on more than 80 emergencies Which aid agencies are on the ground? Who can you call? Weekly tips for journalists, delivered by email Compare global humanitarian facts and figures Keeping tabs on global trends in crisis coverage We scour the worlds media for the most interesting stories. Improve your humanitarian reporting with our online training modules. Putting global emergencies on the map Crisis briefings Who works where Humanitarian Heads Up Interactive charts World Press Tracker MediaWatch Interactive training Hotspot mapping Latest images Tanja Nijmeijer (R) of the Netherlands poses at a camp of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) in the Colombian jungle in this undated handout. Colombias President Juan Manuel Santos .Little progress on Colombias displacement crisis during Uribe government 18 Jun 2010 09:02:00 GMTWritten by: Anastasia MoloneyA young woman stands in the doorway of her home in the Nelson Mandela settlement for displaced people near Cartagena, file photo. REUTERS/Andrew Winning BOGOTA (AlertNet) - A sharp fall in kidnapping and murder rates along with heavy losses suffered by the FARC have made Colombian President Alvaro Uribe the most popular leader in his countrys history. But while many Colombians credit the hardliner with saving the country from being overrun by guerrillas, observers note he has had little success in narrowing the wealth gap or tackling a massive displacement crisis. A stern Oxford and Harvard educated lawyer, Uribes popularity ratings have hovered above 60 per cent throughout his term in office, which will end in August after eight years. The presidents overriding legacy is his so-called Democratic Security Policy that has seen a U.S.-backed military crackdown against leftist rebels from the FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) weaken the guerrilla movement and put it on the back foot. The improved security has lured foreign investors in recent years. Uribe has overseen a fivefold increase in direct foreign investment and robust economic growth during his two consecutive terms. Despite these successes, Uribe has done little to narrow the wide gap between rich and poor. Just under half of Colombias population of 45 million lives in poverty. And far less progress has been made in stemming the high numbers of villagers and farmers driven from their homes as they flee violence as part of Colombias decades-long armed conflict. At least 3.3 million Colombians have been forcibly displaced during the last three decades, ranking Colombia second after Sudan in numbers of internally displaced people (IDP). In 2008, 300,000 new people were added to the displaced list, up from 230,000 four years earlier, according to government figures. The main blemish in the governments Democratic Security Policy is displacement. Uribe can show good figures on murder and kidnapping rates but not on displacement. The majority of Colombias displaced population, over 2,300,000 people, were displaced during his government, said Jorge Rojas, president of the Bogota-based Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES), a local non-governmental group. INVISIBLE PROBLEM While the numbers of displaced are high, the problem goes unnoticed in some parts. Walking along the tidy streets of north Bogota, for example, with its trendy restaurants and penthouse apartments, it is easy to forget that the capital city is home to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced refugees. A city of eight million people, Bogota is sharply divided between the affluent northern neighbourhoods and the impoverished southern hilltop shanty towns where most displaced families live, largely hidden from view from Colombias elite. In Colombia, there are no huge refugee camps like in Sudan. Here displacement is very invisible, said Marcelo Pollack, Colombia researcher at Amnesty International. Under Uribe, the military has intensified its offensive against the rebels and skirmishes between government troops and rebels take place almost every day, concentrated in FARC strongholds in the southern jungle provinces near Colombias border with Ecuador. While this strategy has improved overall security, the communities living there, mainly Afro-Colombian and indigenous groups, are increasingly caught in the crossfire. The dynamics of the conflict have changed, said Pollack. It has dispersed away from the urban cities to the peripheries were many Afro-Colombians and indigenous groups live, making them more vulnerable and increasingly hard hit. The Uribe government defends its record on tackling the countrys displacement crisis. The annual state budget for IDPs has increased more than five-fold since 2000, while the number of displaced families receiving healthcare, schooling and state humanitarian assistance, usually a three-month subsidy, has increased. But greater state spending has not made the lives of Colombias displaced significantly better, says the countrys constitutional court. A typical displaced family of five lives in abject poverty, surviving on less that US$10 a day. The court has ruled that the Uribe government has not fulfilled its legal obligations to provide housing, job opportunities and training for displaced women and their families. Despite all the money being spent, a chronic human rights crisis still goes on, said Rojas. IDPs continue to live in a precarious situation. That wont change unless the government starts to see displaced people as victims of the conflict and not just as people who need to be given a government handout for three months. The countrys displacement crisis has barely featured on the campaign trail in the run-up to Colombias presidential elections this Sunday. The issue was only touched on briefly during one of more than six televised presidential debates. For Uribes likely successor, former defense minister Juan Manual Santos, Colombias displacement crisis remains a major challenge that shows little sign of abating. Reuters AlertNet is not responsible for the content of external websites.Colombia UNHCR2010 UNHCR country operations profile - ColombiaWorking environmentThe contextForced displacement remains a challenge in Colombia, where by mid-2009 the number of officially registered internally displaced persons (IDPs) rose to more than three million. There is also a steady flow of Colombians seeking protection in neighbouring countries and other parts of the world. Most forced displacement has resulted from the long-lasting conflict, widespread violence and the illegal production of coca.While many security-related indicators have improved at the national level, the number of IDPs registered annually has increased to some 300,000 in 2007 and 2008. Over the past few years, the conflict has moved away from urban centres towards remote, less populated areas, such as lowlands, jungles and border regions.Certain parts of the country are much more affected by displacement than others. In recent years, ten per cent of all the districts in Colombia have generated more than 60 per cent of the forced displacement. The areas mostly affected are located along the Pacific Coast, including in Cauca, Choc and Nario, as well as in Arauca, Antioquia, Guaviare and Sur de Bolivar.The receiving areas are also highly concentrated, with 82 per cent of IDPs hosted in less than 10 per cent of the districts, mostly in large urban centres. Urban displacement in Colombia is characterized by intra-urban movements, with IDPs moving from one neighbourhood to the next in search of protection.The needsProviding protection continues to be one of the most pressing challenges in Colombia. The security conditions for IDPs remain difficult due to threats and other forms of intimidation, with the targeted killing of IDP leaders and the rape of women causing further displacement.A limited response capacity to address the needs of displaced women and girls, the lack of security in return areas, difficulties in accessing land, and limited opportunities for work or other economic options, hamper possibilities for durable solutions.The national response to IDP issues has improved over the past couple of years and the annual budget dedicated by the Government to displacement issues now stands at more than USD 550 million. However, serious gaps remain in the implementation of the comprehensive legal framework governing the rights of displaced people. For instance, national programmes do not receive sufficient funding at the local level, and where resources do exist, they are often not used due to a lack of technical capacity or political will. In addition, more than 60 per cent of the funds are tied up in subsidies, leaving little flexibility for the local authorities to adapt to local needs.Main objectivesThe main goal of UNHCR is to ensure that IDPs and those at risk of displacement are able to enjoy their rights under Colombian and international law, focusing on the following priorities:Favourable protection environment Improve the implementation of key public policies at the local level, to facilitate access to services for IDPs. Ensure that Government policies recognize the varying needs of displaced people of different age, gender and ethnic background. Prevent displacement by setting up better early warning systems, encouraging a more informed approach by the national armed forces, enhancing the humanitarian space and ensuring the presence of civilian state institutions in key displacement zones.Fair protection processes Improve registration by reducing processing times and increasing the reliability of the national IDP registry. Improve the land registry system and legal framework to allow IDPs and those at risk of displacement to hold title to their land. Strengthen the capacity of indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities to defend their rights, and improve the protection afforded to them by the authorities. Improve border monitoring capacity and the protection of bi-national indigenous groups.Key targets for 2010 Some 80 percent of the Government resources assigned for displacement issues in 2010 are utilized. Fifteen action plans for IDPs or communities at risk of displacement are developed. At least half of them are implemented, benefiting at least 7,000 people. Guidelines on integrating displaced children, youth, people with disabilities and older people into Government programmes are published by four ministries and implemented at the national and local levels. Some 300,000 hectares of land belonging to displaced people or those at risk of displacement are protected. Approximately 100,000 displaced Colombians or those at risk of displacement receive national identification documents, including at least 40 per cent indigenous or Afro-Colombian IDPs. Action plans to ensure that displaced children have access to the education system are implemented in at least five regions. More than 50,000 displaced children are newly integrated into the education system. Concepts related to the prevention of displacement and the protection of displaced people are incorporated into the training for armed forces and tested for at least 500 officers. Ten prevention and protection plans for indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities at risk of displacement are prepared at the national and local levels. A regional border strategy, including 10 bi-national initiatives, benefits at least 5,000 people.2010-11 UNHCR planning figures for ColombiaTYPE OF POPULATIONORIGINJAN 2010DEC 2010 - JAN 2011DEC 2011TOTAL IN COUNTRYOF WHOM ASSISTEDBY UNHCRTOTAL IN COUNTRYOF WHOM ASSISTEDBY UNHCRTOTAL IN COUNTRYOF WHOM ASSISTEDBY UNHCRTotal3,290,380556,7103,590,440585,4403,890,490600,490RefugeesVarious200200220220260260Asylum-seekersVarious160160200200200200Returnees (refugees)202020203030Internally Displaced3,290,000556,3303,590,000585,0003,890,000600,000Strategy and activitiesIn 2010, UNHCR will focus on the community level, ensuring that national public policy has a positive impact on individual IDPs and those at risk of displacement. The Office will also seek to improve prevention mechanisms and the protection environment by strengthening the national legal framework through advocacy campaigns, assistance in pol