OCHA reports 25% rise in attacks on civilians, with displacement and flooding compounding humanitarian crisis.

On Monday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) warned that 694,700 people have been affected by natural disasters in Colombia, 74,400 displaced, 113,200 confined and 736,000 subjected to mobility restrictions.

RELATED:

Colombia Totally Bans Coal Exports to Israel

“Between January and July 2025, the number of people affected by attacks against the civilian population in Colombia increased by 25% compared to the same period last year,” the agency said in its latest report on the humanitarian situation.

In the first seven months of the year, there were 84,900 victims of attacks on civilians: 2,800 from armed actions, 5,300 from explosive devices and 31,500 from attacks on illicit targets of war.

“These impacts are mainly associated with social control measures, threats and targeted killings of social leaders, human rights defenders and community members, thus constituting violations of the principles of distinction and proportionality,” OCHA said.

The text reads, “Fifty percent of households living in poverty in Colombia are displaced. Four out of five displaced households live in poverty. Carmen, a displaced leader, shares what it means to move toward a lasting solution.”

The worst situation occurred between January and March, when the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerrillas launched an offensive in the Catatumbo region in the northeast against the 33rd Front of the FARC dissidents. The dispute over territorial control in that vast region of Norte de Santander department left nearly 100 people dead, including civilians, and displaced about 60,000.

That month, then-OCHA representative in Colombia, Claudia Rodriguez, told EFE that guerrilla violence in the Catatumbo region was the worst since the government and the FARC signed the 2016 peace accord.

OCHA also warned that disasters caused by the rainy season have worsened the humanitarian situation in more than 50% of the country’s territory, leaving 694,000 people affected by natural disasters so far this year.

“By July, more than 124,000 people — mainly from Indigenous and rural communities, as well as refugees and migrants from the Amazon and Orinoquia regions — were affected by river overflows and increased rainfall since March,” the agency added.

The rains have compounded humanitarian needs in several departments, including Arauca, Guaviare, Putumayo, Caqueta and Amazonas, which are also affected by the armed conflict.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE – OCHA

IN THIS ARTICLE