Colombia: UNHCR urges armed groups to leave indigenous people alone

Source: UNHCR
www.UNHCR.org

UNHCR urges armed groups to leave Colombia's indigenous people alone

BOGOTA, Colombia, August 9 (UNHCR) – Until 1988 the outside world knew
nothing of the existence of the Nukak, a small tribe of nomadic
hunter-gatherers who have lived in the vast rainforests of south-east
Colombia for centuries.

Les than two decades later, the arrival of the civil war in their corner of
the Amazon Basin has forced more than half of the Nukak community of some
500 to flee their ancestral lands. The last big exodus came in April, when
77 Nukak sought sanctuary in the town of San José de Guaviare. Their
situation is dire: they cannot return to their lands, but their culture
will disappear if they stay put.

On World Indigenous Day, UNHCR highlights their plight – and that of almost
all of Colombia's 80 indigenous groups – with a call on the country's rival
armed groups to leave threatened people like the Nukak and the Awá out of
their fight. The refugee agency warned on Wednesday that the conflict
threatened the culture and very existence of Colombia's indigenous people.

"We have warned repeatedly that indigenous groups in Colombia are at risk
of violence and even of extinction amid the ongoing conflict. This is a
tragedy not only for them but for the whole of humanity" said Roberto
Meier, UNHCR's representative in Colombia.

Together they make up about one million people, or less than 3 percent of
the country's population. The conflict causes suffering to hundreds of
thousands of Colombians, but the indigenous people have been particularly
hard hit.

Some 23,000 of them were forced to flee their homes last year, according to
the National Indigenous Organisation of Colombia, while many have been the
victims of targeted killings, threats and forced recruitment.

Amid continuing violence this year, thousands more have fled their homes.
In the latest episode, more than 1,700 Awá people left their reservations
in the south-eastern department of Nariño last month to escape fighting
between an irregular armed group and the Colombian military. They have not
been able to go back.

Indigenous culture is closely linked to the community's ancestral lands,
and forced displacement leads to the loss of traditions, culture and
language. To avoid this fate, many communities try desperately to stay on
their lands despite the threats and violence.

The Bari are one such people – they have refused to move from their land
near the border with Venezuela despite the heavy presence of irregular
troops and the great risk of violence. Concern is also growing about Embera
communities caught up in fighting sweeping Chocó department near the border
with Panama.

The relentless pressure and violence has forced many others into flight.
Some 1,500 Wounaan people fled their ancestral homelands in April after two
of their teachers were murdered by members of an irregular armed group.

"The death of any one of us is terrible, but we especially feel the loss of
two teachers," Ulysses, a Wounaan leader, said at the time. "To go and
study, to become a schoolteacher, this is not an easy thing for us. We have
a unique language, less than a third of our children can read, older people
are illiterate. To lose two of our teachers is an awful blow and we feel it
very deeply."

Most of the Wounaan have since gone back home despite the continuing
insecurity. Ulysses and several others fled to Panama after receiving death
threats. They are not the only indigenous people seeking refuge in
neighbouring countries. Some 300 Quechua Indians asked for asylum in
Ecuador last November after an armed group entered their reserve in
southern Colombia, kidnapped six young girls and threatened the entire
population.

"Our worry is great," one indigenous leader forced into exile told UNHCR
recently. "We see that our culture is dying, we fear that our young people
will lose the traditions of their ancestors and we do not see how the
problem will end. It did not start yesterday, but today the violence is
worse. What are we going to do? As long as the armed groups are on our
territory, we cannot go back."

By Marie-Hélène Verney
In Bogota, Colombia

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'AMAZON ALLIANCE' FOR INDIGENOUS AND
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Disclaimer: All copyrights belong to original publisher. The Amazon
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Todos los derechos de autor pertenecen al autor originario. La Alianza
Amazonica no ha verificado la veracidad de este mensaje. Enviar este
mensaje no necesariamente significa que la Alianza Amazonica este de
acuerdo con el contenido.

La Alianza Amazonica para los Pueblos Indigenas y Tradicionales de la
Cuenca Amazonica es una iniciativa nacida de la alianza entre los pueblos
indigenas y tradicionales de la Amazonia y grupos e individuos que
comparten sus preocupaciones por el futuro de la Amazonia y sus pueblos.
Hay mas de ochenta organizaciones del norte y del sur activas en la Alianza
Amazonica. La Alianza Amazonica trabaja para defender los derechos,
territorios, y el medio ambiente de los pueblos indigenas y tradicionales
de la Cuenca Amazonica.

The Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon
Basin is an initiative born out of the partnership between indigenous and
traditional peoples of the Amazon and groups and individuals who share
their concerns for the future of the Amazon and its peoples. There are over
eighty non-governmental organizations from the North and South active in
the Alliance. The Amazon Alliance works to defend the rights, territories,
and environment of indigenous and traditional peoples of the Amazon Basin.

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