1. Introduction
The armed conflict that has been ravaging Colombia for decades has caused millions of victims, among whom are people who have been tortured, murdered, disappeared, exiled or internally displaced. The magnitude of the forced displacement of population in Colombia is surpassed only in Sudan. According to the Consultoría para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES), the main NGO that monitors displacement in Colombia, since 1985, a total of 5.2 million people have been displaced, about 90,000 during the first half of 2011. Government figures are lower, but not small: according to the Presidential Agency for Social Action and Cooperation, which is responsible for internally displaced persons, the total is 3.6 million since 2000, and 44,000 people were registered as displaced during the first half of 2011.
The problem of internally displaced persons is but the other side of the coin of a process of massive misappropriation of productive lands, which is driven surreptitiously by powerful economic interests.
Click here for the factsheet (17 pages): FS_049_Chocó
