The United Nations (U.N.) Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Colombia, in coordination with representatives of indigenous communities, launched February 24 the Strategy to Promote Humanitarian Management with Indigenous Peoples, which aims at exposing the situation of indigenous peoples and developing actions that contribute to the dignity and welfare of peoples, with respect for the autonomy and self-determination of their communities and territories.
“The reality of indigenous peoples and communities in Colombia is serious due to the effects of violence and armed conflict, in addition to factors such as neglect in economic, political, and social issues,” Juana Cabezas Palacios, a researcher at the Observatory of Human Rights and Conflicts of the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace of Colombia, told Diálogo on March 19. “Indigenous communities and groups are affected by the presence of narco-paramilitary groups or successors of paramilitary groups and dissidents of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which were against the peace agreement.”
“The displacement these groups are forced to endure, the impact on their livelihoods, the use of their territory for purposes contrary to their worldview, means we are losing languages and people,” U.N. resident coordinator in Colombia Mireia Villar Forner told EFE. “The strategy highlights the problems of indigenous communities that must be mitigated.”
According to OCHA Colombia, nearly 2 million indigenous people live in some 115 villages in Colombia. In 2022, around 90,000 people were victims of the violence brought by armed groups and 10,000 suffered from natural disasters.
“The biggest problems faced by these indigenous groups is the non-continuity of their organizational processes, which is due to armed threats. Indigenous communities are deeply rooted to their homeland, which is their livelihood,” Cabezas Palacios added. “Armed groups seek to control their territory, which affects their well-being, as they are forced to look for new places to live.”
Some 22 indigenous peoples are currently at risk of extinction and 62 are under threat, OCHA Colombia indicated. Indigenous peoples represent 41 percent of the people affected by humanitarian emergencies, such as displacement and confinement, it added.
The U.N. strategy highlights the humanitarian situation that Colombia’s indigenous peoples face in order to implement an action plan and respond to their most urgent needs, as well as to promote their own health systems and establish mechanisms for monitoring and strengthening health care in emergencies, Colombian newspaper El Universal reported.
According to Cabezas Palacios, criminal groups also seek to recruit indigenous youths, thus tearing the indigenous organization’s social fabric. “The perpetrators of violence subjugate the leaders and force them to give them different services. In some cases, they also murder them, which forces communities to abandon their territories.”
The communities and indigenous peoples affected by narcoterrorism and paramilitary violence are mainly in the rural areas of Chocó, Tumaco, Nariño, Santander de Quilichao, Buenos Aires, Argelia, Caloto, Toribio, Valle del Cauca, Putumayo, Puerto Asís, Puerto Leguizamo, as well as in the border area with Ecuador. “These groups are forced to grow and sell marijuana, among other things, in addition to establishing safe routes for the movement of criminals engaged in narcotrafficking,” Cabezas Palacios said.
“The U.N. strategy will also allow government work and presence from the Colombian State in favor of indigenous peoples and communities, to implement a peace policy that preserves their welfare,” Cabezas Palacios concluded. “This process will strengthen issues of identity, interculturalism, and education in these groups.”