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UNHCR calls on Colombia to protect the indigenous people who are attacked
by yudaica2013 ·
the tiempo.com The soluicitud the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was made Tuesday at the headquarters in Geneva. “UNHCR calls on the authorities to take necessary measures to protect indigenous people from the violence and forced displacement,” says a paper circulated today by the UN agency. Furthermore it shows “concern” about rising cases of forced displacement to which the Indians have undergone Wayu who live in La Guajira. According to latest figures, 86 reached the Wayuu indigenous Venezuelan Zulia department after crossing the desert of La Guajira and have crossed the border after having been victims of an attack. The attackers were armed men who burned their houses and threatened with death, according to testimony gathered by UNHCR officials in Venezuela. “We are very concerned, because we see that these cases are repeated and unrelieved, is the attempt to remove the Indians to their ancestral lands,” said UNHCR spokesman Rod Redmond. Wayu refugees explained that a larger group of ethnicity who also fled the attacks is still in the desert of La Guajira. The UNHCR warned that these attacks are embedded in a context of growing violence in La Guajira, as has been documented killings, death threats, intimidation and extortion, and the reorganization of illegal armed groups. According to the agency, especially violence suffer Wayu and other indigenous groups like the Arhuaco, the Kogi, and wivam, which together represent 45 percent of the population of the department. The Wayu are one of the largest indigenous communities in the region, there are 150,000 to 160,000 in Colombia and Venezuela. The department of La Guajira is a strategic region that gives access to the Caribbean, is why it is the place chosen by various armed groups who want to control the illegal drug trade. According to official data, more than 50,000 people have been involuntarily displaced due to violence in the department. In Colombia there are a million indigenous people, divided in 80 distinct groups. Twenty-seven of them are composed of fewer than 500 people and at risk of extinction, often as a result of violence and forced displacement. Geneva With EFE http://www.eltiempo.com/colombia/politica/acnur-pide-a-colombia-que-proteja-a-los-indigenas-que-son-victimas-de-ataques 4777096-1
