Colombia: Over 70 Indigenous Families Displaced in Urrao

Colombian Antioquia Indigenous Organization (OIA) said on Thursday that their native communities suffered from forced displacement due to the armed groups present in their territory.

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 According to OIA representatives, over 70 indigenous families left their homes in the southeast municipality of Urrao.  As communication states, another 1,000 families could also be in displacement risk in Perdidas Valley and Andabu region’s reserves.

"Due to pressure and the presence of illegal armed groups in the Majore reserve, they have been forced to leave their community since last Friday, April 24, to safeguard their lives, even though the reserve in question has collective protection from the National Protection Unit," the statement said.

OIA reported Dabeiba Mayor, Urrao’s conjunct region, provided shifted families with food and provisional shelter. Local authorities accompanied them. Women, children, and the elderly were prioritized. 

As the OIA informed, formerly displaced families took temporary refuge in the school of the Llano Jacinto community in the same Majoré reservation, where they were confined and overcrowded. The organization also points out that this situation jeopardizes families due to COVID-19 possibility given their proximity and lack of health conditions.

The indigenous organization claims the need for humanitarian institutions to ensure civilian monitoring. They stressed that the indigenous communities of Urrao are in danger and want to avoid displacements to the urban area of the municipality.

The OIA also denounced the increase of armed groups' presence, a situation that represents double confinement and danger for native people, who are already complying with social isolation due to the virus.