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  Colombia’s Humanitarian Crisis

Bogotá/Brussels, 9 July 2003: The International Crisis Group today publishes a new report calling for much more decisive action and greater resources to address Colombia’s massive humanitarian crisis. The report, Colombia’s Humanitarian Crisis*, is being released ahead of an inter-governmental meeting in London tomorrow to discuss the country’s long-running conflict and the need for change in government policy and international aid.

The ICG report details the sharp increase in the past two years of internal displacement and suffering, with no reduction in violence. The Uribe government has focused on expanding security by increasing the military and police, but this has not stopped the targeting of civilians by illegal armed groups, and the internal refugee and humanitarian crisis continues to worsen.

ICG Colombia Senior Analyst Dr Markus Schultze-Kraft said: “The Colombian government’s humanitarian policy has been hampered by the magnitude of the crisis, but also by the lack of state capacity, reluctance to expand resources for social programs at the same time as it is increasing them for the military, and the wide gap between policy planning and reality”.

ICG Colombia Project Director Fernando Mora said: “The constant rise in violence is sad evidence that government’s policy has not yet appreciably improved the security of the most vulnerable sectors of Colombian society”.

In recommendations to the government of Colombia, the United Nations, the EU, humanitarian aid organisations and the donor community, ICG calls for a significant expansion of funding and presence on the ground in Colombia. There needs to be much greater cooperation between Colombia’s state institutions, and the government must implement all its obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law and establish a comprehensive rural development strategy. Efforts so far have fallen well short.

ICG Senior Vice President Mark Schneider said: “More than two million Colombians have been driven from their homes by the conflict, many directly targeted by the paramilitary and the guerrillas. The government and international community response barely reaches half of those in need. The first responsibility lies with the Colombian government but the international community also has distinct obligations”.


MARK SCHNEIDER AND FERNANDO MORA ARE IN LONDON AND AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEW
Media Contacts: Katy Cronin (London) +44 20 7981 0330 [email protected]
Francesca Lawe-Davies (Brussels) +32-(0)2-536 00 65
Kathy Ward (Washington) +1-202-785 1601
*Read the report in full on our website:
http://www.crisisweb.org/

The International Crisis Group (ICG) is an independent, non-profit, multinational organisation, with over 90 staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict.



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