Some 200 Venezuelans, most of them indigenous Sikuani, arrived displaced in the municipality Puerto Carreño, in eastern Colombia, after fleeing fighting between dissidents from the extinct FARC guerrilla and ELN rebels, denounced this Friday the Ombudsman’s Office.
“The Ombudsman’s Office has provided care to nearly 200 people, of which 150 are indigenous Sikuani who came to Puerto Carreño seeking protection,” explained the entity that watches over human rights in a statement.
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Mass displacements have become common in the border area, where fighting between groups that broke away from the peace pact signed by the FARC in 2016 and ELN troops left almost 30 dead in the first days of the year.
“Colombian illegal armed groups are clashing in Venezuelan territory and, for this reason, more families from that country have abandoned their homes and have fled to Colombian territory and other parts of Venezuela”, denounced the Ombudsman.
Some 170 people fled to Colombia in the first week of the year and on Thursday a group of ex-combatants from the FARC that is still in the peace process also had to move due to the clashes.
The armed groups dispute the illegal businesses on the border, mainly cocaine trafficking.
Recognized as the last guerrilla in Colombia, the ELN has a foot strength of about 2,500 rebels, according to the independent study center Indepaz.
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For their part, the FARC dissidents add up to some 5,200 combatants without a unified command, most of them (85%) new recruits who were never in the extinct rebel organization, according to the same source.
Colombia, the world’s largest cocaine producer, blames Venezuela for the resurgence of violence on the porous 2,200-kilometer border.
According to the conservative president Iván Duque, the illegal armed groups found refuge and protection in Venezuelan lands, allegations that Caracas denies.
