Jesuit Refugee Service | USA | Invisible and Forgotten: Colombian Refugees

Colombia: ineffective response to rise in IDPs
(Bogota) May 5, 2013 – Significant increases in conflict between paramilitary, guerrilla and government forces have left more than 5,200 people displaced last year in the Buenaventura area. Despite increased forced displacement, the government has failed to guarantee assistance to the victims of violence in the region, according to a report by Jesuit Refugee Service, Buenaventura: An Unanswered Humanitarian Crisis.
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Conflict in Colombia normalizes sexual violence
(Bogotá, Rome) April 22, 2013 – When young mother Rosa Elvira Cely was found dead last year after being brutally tortured and raped by common criminals, thousands joined a march in the Colombian capital to demand justice. For a moment it seemed as if the general public had woken up to one of the most horrendous consequences of the 50-year conflict, widespread violence against women.
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Now is the Time for Peace with Justice in Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) April 4, 2013 — You can be a voice for peace and justice in Colombia. Join thousands of activists, students, and people of faith this month as we plan educational public events to stand in solidarity with Colombian communities facing violence and displacement. Now is the time to advocate for U.S. policies that will alleviate, not exacerbate, Colombia's crisis.
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Panama: refugees look to a more hospitable future
(Panama City) April 16, 2013 – Little by little Panama is becoming a transit and destination country for thousands of migrants. Influxes of economic migrants, refugees, trafficking victims attempt to cross Panama towards the U.S. or come from Central American countries in search of international protection or better living standards in Panama.
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Ecuador: Thousands of Colombian refugees at risk
(Tulcán, Ecuador) April 8, 2013 — During Holy Week, we made a quick visit to Pasto, the capital of the Colombian department of Nariño, located on the border with Ecuador. Jesuit Refugee Service has begun a bi-national project in this remote area to accompany an ever-growing number of Colombians who arrive seeking protection in Ecuador.
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Facing adversity on the Colombia-Venezuela frontier
(Bogota) October 11, 2012 — Last month the Jesuit Refugee Service Latin America & Caribbean regional office began the project Prevention of violence and restoration of rights of displaced persons and refugees on the Colombian-Venezuelan border. JRS provides comprehensive accompaniment and support in the area to thousands of displaced or refugee women, men, boys, girls and adolescents.
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STOP! End the recruitment and use of children in war
(Bogota) February 11, 2013 – Jesuit Refugee Service in Colombia launched this year's activities marking February 12, Red Hand Day, to express their rejection of the recruitment and use of children and adolescents in war and armed conflict. JRS joins the world in one voice in support of the defense of children's rights.
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Colombia: JRS efforts for peace & reconciliation
(Washington, D.C.) November 13, 2012 — Christian Wlaschütz of Jesuit Refugee Service Colombia discusses the work of JRS with people displaced by the conflict in Colombia. JRS supports a negotiated resolution of the armed civil conflict in Colombia and advocates for policies that will lead to a just and sustainable peace in the region.
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On Assignment in Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) August 21, 2012 — The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported this week that 19 mass displacements forced an estimated 8,200 people from their homes in July, the highest figure recorded since 2009. That is a 129 per cent increase over June, and a 370 per cent increase compared to the same time last year.
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Colombia: peace negotiations shine a ray of hope for refugees and displaced people
(Bogota) September 21, 2012 – Hope breathes in Colombia after decades of open confrontation between armed groups. For years, victims displaced by the Colombian conflict have longed to return to their homeland. With peace talks starting between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia and the government that hope may finally be realized.
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Video: Jesuit Refugee Service in Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) March 28, 2012 - Jesuit Refugee Service Colombia has produced a documentary about the work of JRS in Colombia. Colombian refugees are the frequently forgotten victims of a 50-year-long conflict between paramilitaries, guerillas, and the Colombian military and security forces.
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Alternatives to violence bring hope to Medellín
(Washington,D.C.) September 15, 2011 — Congressman James McGovern recently visited Colombia as part of a fact-finding delegation. The first leg of the trip brought the delegation to Medellín to look at the human rights situation and how communities are responding to violence in the city’s poorest neighborhoods.
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Statement of Support for the Jesuits of Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) December 16, 2011 — The U.S. Jesuit Conference and Jesuit Refugee Service/USA offer the following statement of support in response to the recent indictment by the Prosecutor General of Cartagena of our colleagues working with displaced communities in Colombia.
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Get Involved: National Days of Action for Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) April 11, 2012 — Thousands of people are coming together this month to advocate for peace and justice in Colombia and take action through the Days of Action for Colombia. We at Jesuit Refugee Service/USA encourage you to join us in this national campaign.
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Recent stories

Ecuador: JRS helps Colombian refugees
(Washington, D.C.) November 28, 2011 — "We are perceiving that the Colombian conflict is becoming forgotten," said Fr. Fernando Ponce Leon, S.J., during a recent visit to Washington, D.C. Fr. Fernando is the National Director of Jesuit Refugee Service Ecuador, and was in Washington for meetings to refresh the Mexico Plan of Action, a framework for durable solutions for the Colombian refugee crisis.
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The Refugee Voice — Quiet Crisis: Colombian Refugees in Panama and Ecuador
(Washington, D.C.) April 4, 2011 — The plight of Colombian refugees and displaced persons is the most persistent humanitarian crisis in the Western Hemisphere; it may also be one of the most ignored in the world. In just the last two decades, the nearly 50-year-long armed conflict among guerillas, paramilitaries and the Colombian armed forces has resulted in the targeted persecution and internal and cross-border displacement of more than five million Colombians.
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State Department mission to Ecuador and Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) May 6, 2011 — Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration Eric Schwartz released a letter yesterday reflecting on a recent visit he made to Ecuador and Colombia. Mr. Schwartz notes that in the region, "Women-headed households are particularly vulnerable."
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Colombian refugees face stark choices
(Washington, D.C.) March 18, 2011 — Prospects for local integration in cities and towns in the region surrounding Colombia have become so grim for refugees from that troubled country that they consider returning to possible death at the hands of their persecutors over the continued neglect and assaults on human dignity they suffer in their countries of refuge.
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Colombian Refugees in Ecuador and Panama
(Washington, D.C.) March 10, 2011 — Arguably one of the most persistent — and neglected — humanitarian crises in the Western Hemisphere, Colombia's ongoing conflict has resulted in the targeted persecution and displacement of more than four million Colombians in the last two decades. Learn more March 23rd during an event at the Migration Policy Institute here.
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Invisible and Forgotten: Forcibly Displaced by Conflict in Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) — Jesuit Refugee Service supports a negotiated resolution of the armed civil conflict in Colombia and advocates for policies that will lead to a just and sustainable peace in that country.
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On Assignment in Panama
(Panama City, Panama) November 2, 2010 – Children in the Darien Gap have no access to secondary school education, health care is minimal and many of the children suffer from parasitic diseases. Refugees in this jungle region are not allowed to leave their village, to work, to access even the most basic of services.
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Refugee Crisis Simmers in Ecuador
The Colombian-Ecuadorian border of the Amazon basin has become the spillover area of human suffering caused by the bitter armed conflict raging in Colombia. According to the United Nations, the Colombian refugee crisis is the third largest in the world, tied with Sudan, after Afghanistan and Iraq.
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Days of Prayer and Action for Colombia
(Washington, D.C.) March 6, 2011 — With nearly five million internally displaced people, Colombia is home to the Western Hemisphere’s greatest displacement crisis, and more are losing their homes every day. Join us as we call on our government to promote policies towards Colombia that support Colombian refugees and IDPs and other victims of violence, protects those working for peace in Colombia, and contributes to fair and durable land restitution policies.
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On Assignment in Ecuador
(Quito, Ecuador) November 8, 2010 — While Ecuador has by far the most advanced asylum system in Latin America and a progressive new constitution that should afford Colombian refugees many of the rights enjoyed by Ecuadorian nationals, all is not well for many of the Colombian refugees who have crossed into Ecuador.
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Colombian refugees in legal limbo in Panama
(Washington, D.C.) February 9, 2010 — Refugees who have fled from the on–going conflict in Colombia to the neighboring country of Panama find themselves lost in a legal limbo. Granted Temporary Humanitarian Protection, they are not permitted the legal and social benefits afforded to refugees under the 1951 Refugee Convention, which is supposed to define who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of states.
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