Exile was almost always the last resort for Colombians after suffering internal displacement, threats, murders of family members, or attacks.
According to the Victim Assistance and Reparation Unit and its Single Victim Registry, between 1985 and 2021 there were more than nine million victims of the internal armed conflict; but there is an under-registration, since many people had to flee the country.
The victimizing events The most recurrent and reported were: homicides, forced disappearance, kidnapping, forced recruitment and forced displacement.
According to the Single Registry of Victims (RUV), as of November 2024, there are 34,229 victims of the armed conflict abroad. Of these, 53,24% are women (18,225 victims), 46,22% are men (15,822 victims) and 0,53% belong to people with sexual orientation and
of diverse gender (181 victims).
Faced with this reality, the Commission for the Clarification of the Truth established that “Exile is a violation in itself which shows the failure of State institutions in their duty to protect victims, as well as the responsibility of all armed actors in these violations.".
The internal armed conflict in Colombia crossed borders and forced social leaders, human rights defenders, Indigenous people, Afro-descendants, LGBTIQ+ people, union members, and academics to abandon their homes, projects, and families to save their lives.
Not all migrants leave by choice; sometimes they do so to escape situations of extreme violence.
Just by informing yourself and sharing this information, you are already contributing to their situation.
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