“We are concerned about the upward trend that we observe in the number of victims and the deepening of different phenomena, particularly because in the first months of this year the humanitarian situation in Colombia has continued to worsen“, said Lorenzo Caraffi, head of the agency in Colombia, quoted in the annual report.
The ICRC registered 486 victims of explosive devices, 53% civilians, including 40 minors. Of the total affected, 50 died.
The global figure exceeds the 392 cases reported in 2020, then the worst figure documented by the agency, in 14 of the departments hardest hit by an internal conflict that persists after the disarmament of the FARC Marxist rebels.
Other organizations -which are mainly nourished by the drug trafficking– They have taken over spaces left by the guerrillas, due to the late response or arrival of the State, according to independent investigations.
Anti-personnel mines and other explosive devices are used by illegal forces to protect drug crops and also as weapons.
Citing official statistics, the ICRC also lamented the massive displacement of almost 53,000 people last year, “which represents an increase of 148% compared to 2020”.
In remote towns in Colombia that were caught in the crossfire, some 45,000 peasants were forced to confine themselves, 60% more than the previous period.
In addition, in the development of its humanitarian work, the organization “documented every two days, on average, a new case of disappearance related to armed conflicts and violence”, the highest number in five years.
Half a century of armed conflict has left some 120,000 disappeared in Colombiaalmost four times more than those of all the combined dictatorships of Argentina, Brazil and Chile in the 20th century.
“These figures are painful and even so they do not reflect the fear, uncertainty and hopelessness that thousands of people experienced due to the armed conflicts in Colombia,” Caraffi lamented.
During the presentation of the report to journalists, Caraffi warned that “in 2022 the panorama could be even more complex than it was last year.”
According to the head of the humanitarian agency, in the first two months of 2022, 25% of the total victims by explosive devices documented in 2021 were recorded.
“We see a continuation of those trends and we are noticing an acceleration in the first months of 2022,” he said.
Source: Ambito
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