The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that nearly 50,000 people in the Chocó region of western Colombia were under complete movement restrictions during the first week of May. OCHA said on Friday that civilians remain cut off from essential services due to the activities of non-state armed groups (NSAGs).
The UN humanitarian office reports that among the tens of thousands of people living under severe restrictions are 5,000 people from 25 Afro-descendant and indigenous communities in the town of Bajo Baudó.
OCHA, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) plan to assess the needs of and provide assistance to communities affected by these restrictions in Chocó next week under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, Mireia Villar Forner.
Since the beginning of the year, more than 775,000 people in Colombia have endured total movement and access restrictions, confinement or displacement due to armed conflict and clashes between non-state armed groups and security forces. As a result, communities have limited access to food and health care, among other vital services.
More than eight years after the signing of a peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), the humanitarian situation in Colombia is still characterized by massive internal displacement and insecurity due to armed violence.
The country has endured more than six decades of intense armed conflict, fueled by widespread illicit drug production and trafficking and rooted in territorial control by armed groups.
According to OCHA, at least 9.3 million people are affected by the presence of non-state armed actors, including the National Liberation Army (ELN), FARC dissident groups, paramilitary successor groups and drug trafficking gangs. Civilians in different parts of Colombia suffer serious human rights violations at the hands of these armed groups.
The fragmentation of non-state armed groups into splinter groups and the intensification of conflicts among them have severely damaged the social fabric of affected communities, greatly hampering access to human rights while undermining freedoms, security, and autonomy, thus straining the protection capacity of the state.
In the conflict-ridden Catatumbo region along Colombia's northeastern border with Venezuela, recent clashes between NSAGs have forcibly displaced more than 63,000 people alone, now the largest mass displacement in Colombia's history, with displaced people in dire need of safe shelter, food and access to safe water.
Meanwhile, the US$ 342 million Humanitarian Response Plan to assist some 2 million vulnerable people out of 9 million in need of humanitarian assistance in Colombia is only 14 percent funded, with $48 million received so far.
Host to millions of Venezuelan refugees and migrants
Colombia hosts one of the largest populations of uprooted people in the world, with more than 7 million internally displaced people, nearly 3 million Venezuelan refugees and migrants, and more than 500,000 Colombian returnees.
Since 2015, 7.7 million Venezuelans have left their country. Colombia has received the largest number of Venezuelans, but all countries in the region have received large numbers of migrants and refugees from Venezuela.
In late April, UNHCR issued an urgent appeal to the international community to step up its support and provide the necessary funding to sustain its operations in Colombia. The UN agency said it needed $118.3 million to continue its critical work this year.
The Venezuela Regional Refugee and Migrant Response Plan (RMRP) 2025, which requires $1.4 billion to support more than 2.34 million refugees and migrants, as well as affected host communities, is currently only 5 percent funded.
The consequences of this funding gap are being painfully felt, as UNHCR has been forced to suspend or scale back many vital programs.
Climate related shocks
Colombia continues to struggle with the effects of climate shocks. Last year, more than 1.2 million people in the country were affected by the El Niño phenomenon, which fueled forest fires and led to water shortages in almost all regions of the country.
In 2024, Colombia experienced a significant rise in natural disasters, adding to an already complex humanitarian situation caused by the armed conflict and mixed movements of refugees, internally displaced persons and migrants. The country is highly vulnerable to a range of natural hazards, particularly floods and landslides, which displace thousands of people every year.
Adverse weather events, exacerbated by climate change, have disproportionately impacted the most vulnerable communities, including those already affected by conflict and mixed migration. Indigenous, Afro-Colombian and rural communities have been particularly affected by these extreme weather events over the past year.
In recent days, severe flooding has affected more than 17,000 people in the Meta department in the center of the country. Nationwide, nearly 70,000 people have been affected by natural disasters in the past month alone. Since the beginning of the year, heavy rains have caused flooding and landslides in many regions of the country, resulting in casualties and destruction.